Volleyball Defeats Middle Tennessee in Five Sets

Friday, September 19

South Orange, N.J.

5:00 PM

Dartmouth College

7-1

MTSU

3-8

Middle Tennessee St.

Dartmouth

Volleyball Defeats Middle Tennessee in Five Sets

9/19/2014 8:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Dartmouth volleyball team defeated Middle Tennessee in five sets on the first day of its three-match Seton Hall Classic on Friday evening by a score of 20-25, 25-15, 18-25, 26-24, 15-13. The Big Green improved to 7-1 on the 2014 season, while the Blue Raiders dipped to 3-8. This is the third consecutive match that the team from the Upper Valley has won in five sets after falling in the first.

“I am proud of the team's effort, especially the resilience they showed in game four,” said head coach Erin Lindsey. “Middle Tennessee was really physical and it took a little while to get used to the block, but we started serving tougher, which helped.”

Facing each other for the first time in program history, the first set against Dartmouth and Middle Tennessee was evenly matched, with the score being tied seven times in the first eight points until the Blue Raiders took the lead once and for all off a kill that led to two more points. The Big Green got within two points (20-22), but three errors ended the set in Middle Tennessee's favor.

Winning the first point off an error, Dartmouth led the second set from the beginning, never letting the Blue Raiders get closer than four points behind. With a 19-14 lead, the Green and White went on a five-point run following kills by junior Kaira Lujan and sophomore Lottie MacAulay, two aces by senior Alex Schoenberger, and two errors, and needed just one more point off an error to win their first set.

Three unanswered points by the opponent started the fourth set, but a four-point run by Dartmouth that consisted of two kills by sophomore Emily Astarita and junior Paige Caridi and two errors turned things around to give the Green and White its first lead of the set. Seven straight points on the other side of the net put the Blue Raiders ahead, once again, but a handful of errors and kills by Lujan and sophomore Molly Kornfeind lessened the lead.

Trailing by eight points (12-20) Dartmouth went on a 13-4 run that was highlighted by three kills apiece by Caridi and Lujan, and an ace by freshman Morgan Waterman and sophomore Stacey Benton. An error by the Big Green allowed Middle Tennessee to tie the score at 24, but a kill by Kornfeind and an ace by Schoenberger was all that was needed to wrap the set up nicely.

Five straight errors allowed the Green and White to take a 5-0 lead in the fifth and final set, but their run was ended with back-to-back kills by Middle Tennessee. With a 14-9 edge over the Blue Raiders, four kills by the opponent took the score to 14-13 with just one point needed to end the match. That point came at the hands of Astarita, whose 14^th kill of the night secured the victory.

Astarita led the team with 14 kills, while junior Kayden Cook had 26 assists and Schoenberger had five aces.

Tomorrow, Dartmouth will face host Seton Hall at 11:30 a.m. and Fordham at 4:30 p.m.