Volleyball Returns Home for Dartmouth Invitational

Friday: Providence (4-8, 0-0 America East) at Dartmouth (5-3, 0-0 Ivy)
Location: Hanover, N.H.
Date: Friday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m.
Series Record: Dartmouth leads, 3-2

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Saturday: CCSU (5-4, 0-0 NEC) at Dartmouth (5-3, 0-0 Ivy)
Location: Hanover, N.H.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 16, 1 p.m.
Series Record: Dartmouth leads, 9-3

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Saturday: Delaware St. (1-7, 0-0 MEAC) at Dartmouth (5-3, 0-0 Ivy)
Location: Hanover, N.H.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 17, 5 p.m.
Series Record: First meeting

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HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth volleyball team plays at home for the first time this season when it hosts the Dartmouth Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

This past Tuesday, the Big Green played at Holy Cross and improved to 5-3 on the season with a 3-1 victory. Dartmouth used a balanced attack with three players recording 15 or more kills. The Big Green's balanced attack was led by freshman Alex Schoenberger (Corte Madera, Calif.) who tallied 20 kills for the first time in her collegiate career. Schoenberger's previous high this season was 13 against Marist at the West Point Challenge last weekend. Against the Crusaders, she also had eight digs and two blocks. The other two players with at least 15 kills for the Big Green were senior Madeline Baird (Austin, Texas) with 17 and senior Annie Villanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif.) with 15.

Senior Amber Bryant (Libertyville, Ill.) controlled the back row for the Big Green with 29 digs. Baird added 15 digs to her 17 kills. Junior Alissa Santa Maria (Yorba Linda, Calif.) distributed the ball with 40 assists.

Ivy Honor

The Ivy League honored Baird for her performance at the West Point Challenge by naming her the league's player of the week. Baird was the model of consistency over the course of the Big Green's four matches at the challenge, earning all-tournament team honors. She averaged 4.00 kills per set and added 2.88 digs per set.

Baird recorded three-straight double-doubles (16 kills, 13 digs vs. Marist; 16 kills, 13 digs vs. Army and 22 kills, 14 digs vs. NJIT) to close out the weekend with 68 kills and 49 digs along with 10 assists.

Quick Hits

The Big Green are 26th in the nation in digs per set at 17.08. Bryant leads the team at 4.35.
Villanueva leads the team and the Ivy League in hitting percentage at .379. She has 83 kills on 177 total attempts with only 16 errors. Monique Roberts of Columbia is a distant second at .347.
Baird is second in the Ivy League in kills per set at 3.67. She has 110 kills in 30 sets. Cathryn Quinn of Princeton leads the conference at 3.91.

Opponents

Providence (4-8, 0-0 America East)
The Friars enter the weekend with a 4-8 record, but won two-out-of-three matches last weekend at the Friar Classic. Lauren Fletcher leads the team with 145 kills with a .349 hitting percentage. In the back row, Cassie Muzzonigro has 228 digs to pace the team.

Dartmouth and Providence first met on Sept. 27, 1996 with the Friars winning in Hanover, 3-1. The Big Green earned their first win in the series on Sept. 26, 1998 at home. The two squads did not play again until they met at Providence in 2009 with Dartmouth winning, 3-0. Last year, on Sept. 28, 2010 at Leede Arena, the Big Green swept the Friars, 3-0.

Central Conn. St. (5-4, 0-0 NEC)
The Blue Devils won all three matches at their CCSU Invitational last weekend to improve to 5-4 on the year. Emily Cochran leads the team with 109 kills and has 89 digs. Danielle Gasser is the primary setter with 320 assists.

The teams first met on Sept. 28, 1996 with the Big Green earning a 3-1 home victory. CCSU earned its first win in the series on Nov. 8, 1997 at home, 3-2. Dartmouth has won the last three matches and leads the all-time series, 9-3. The Blue Devils last victory over the Big Green came in Hanover on Sept. 30, 2003.

Delaware St. (1-7, 0-0 MEAC)
The Hornets struggled to begin the season, losing their first seven matches before earning their first win of the season last Saturday against Quinnipiac. Jessica Russell-Croucher leads the team with 78 kills. Christobel Fakaosi is the team leader in digs with 55. This is the first meeting between the Big Green and the Hornets.

Schedules