Dartmouth Volleyball Goes 1-1 on Day One of Tournament

Friday, September 12

Queens, N.Y.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-0

St. John's

5-3

Dartmouth

St. John's

Dartmouth Volleyball Goes 1-1 on Day One of Tournament

9/12/2014 8:33:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Dartmouth

QUEENS, N.Y. – Back in action on the road once again, the Dartmouth volleyball team went 1-1 on its first day of the Jack Keiser Tournament on Friday. The Big Green defeated host St. John's for the first time in program history, wrapping up the five-set match with a score of 10-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 17-15. This was the Big Green's first Big East win since 2010, when they beat Rutgers. Dartmouth ended the evening with a 0-3 performance against Fresno State, falling 6-25, 10-25, 14-25. Dartmouth is now 4-1 on the newly started season.

“I'm thrilled that we could get a win against St. John's,” said head coach Erin Lindsey. “St. John's is a really good team and has played well against some tough teams recently. I am excited about how the team responded after the first set. We weren't ready going into the match, as the pace of the game was a lot faster than the weekend before, but we got a lot better as the match went on.”

Facing a team that has defeated the likes of Army and New Mexico, the Big Green got off to a slow start against the Red Storm, scoring their first two points off a kill by sophomore Molly Kornfeind and an error on the other side of the net, and not winning another point until the hosts had a 9-2 edge. With two kills by senior Lucia Pohlman, a kill apiece by junior Paige Caridi, and sophomore Lottie MacAulay and junior Kaira Lujan, the first set ended in St. John's favor.

With a slightly different lineup, Dartmouth returned to the court for the second set as a completely different team. St. John's won the first point, but did not stay ahead for long. The two teams were tied six times before the Big Green took the lead following a kill by Caridi and two service aces by MacAulay and, although the opponent got within one point on five separate occasions, Dartmouth never relinquished that edge.

A kill by Caridi started the third set off in the Green and White's favor. The two teams did the same dance as they had the set before, tying five times before the Red Storm went on a three-point run following three kills. Two more kills by Caridi and one by the opponent and St. John's still had a 12-8 edge. Following three unanswered Dartmouth points, the Big Green got within one point of the host and remained there until an ace by MacAulay and an attack error gave Dartmouth a 17-16 lead, its first since the start of the set. With five more ties and a solid effort on both sides of the net, St. John's came away with the win.

Kills by MacAulay and Caridi and an error by the opponents gave Dartmouth a 3-0 lead at the start of the fourth set, an edge that the Big Green did not give up for the remainder of the set. The fifth and final set also started with a Green and White point and the team from the Upper Valley remained in the lead until St. John's went on a three-point run to tie the score at 11. From there, the score was tied four more times, forcing the teams to play past 15 until a kill by Kornfeind and an error ended the match.

Leading the team were Emily Astarita with her 17 kills, Kayden Cook with 48 assists, Caridi with 17 digs and MacAulay with her four aces.

Playing a different lineup against Fresno State, the Big Green dropped all three sets, 6-25, 10-25, 14-25. In the first set, Dartmouth won the first point off a service error by the opponents, but watched as Fresno State went on a six-point run before being able to score another point. Pohlman had a kill and a block, earning two of the Green and White's points, before the set was ended.

The Big Green, once again, won the first point off a service error on the other side of the net, but did not get another point until a kill by senior Alex Schoenberger. From there, Dartmouth played stronger than it had in the first set, having two kills and three errors by the opponent. In the final set, the two teams were evenly matched at the beginning, tying four times before Fresno State was able to pull away. Dartmouth crept closer, getting within nine points, before a kill on the other side of the net ended the match.

“We couldn't find our groove, but this was good for us,” Lindsey continued. “A lot of different people got experience on the court, and that's what we're looking for. I think we got so much better as a team today. We just have to get refocused for tomorrow, as we have two strong matches.”

Tomorrow, Dartmouth will face St. Francis Brooklyn at 12:30 p.m. before ending the tournament with a 3 p.m. match against New Hampshire.