Volleyball Defeats WVU, 3-1, in Dramatic Fashion at Home

Friday, September 11

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-3

West Virginia

2-5

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
WVU	20	17	25	29	1
Dartmouth	25	25	20	31	3

Volleyball Defeats WVU, 3-1, in Dramatic Fashion at Home

9/11/2015 9:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – The Big Green volleyball team opened the first day of the Dartmouth Tournament on Friday evening, earning its first win of the season by defeating West Virginia, 3-1, (25-20, 25-17, 20-25, 31-29) inside Leede Arena.

Since the 2007 season, the Big Green has not extended a set so far into extra points.

Dartmouth improved to 1-3 on the season, while the Mountaineers dipped to 2-5.

Junior Emily Astarita led both teams with 21 kills, senior Kayden Cook had 47 assists, freshman Sierra Lyle had two service aces and WVU's Gianna Gotterba had 18 digs to lead both squads.

“I was really proud of how the team came out in the first two sets,” head coach Erin Lindsey said after the match. “We had a specific game plan and they did a nice job executing it. Coming out of the break, WVU made adjustments and we had trouble keeping tough serves in the zone. We allowed them a little run and we had trouble catching up by not making the adjustments we needed to make to pull out that set. In the fourth, we needed a change so I brought in quite a few other payers, like Molly Kornfeind, who brought us a spark, and Danielle Glinka, who brought us a new look. I am really proud of how the team just fought and stayed in it even while WVU was pushing us.”

Set two was a lot closer than the first, with eight ties occurring before either team got its 10th point. Morgan Montgomery gave WVU the first point off a kill, but a kill by senior Allison Brady and a Mountaineers' error soon put the set back in Dartmouth's favor. The Mountaineers and the Big Green went back and forth, tying three more times before the hosts took the lead and never looked back.

The Green went on a four-point run following two WVU errors and a pair of kills by Astarita to take an 18-14 lead. A Dartmouth error put the Mountaineers within three, but another WVU error, two service aces by Lyle and a kill apiece by Astarita and Cook gave the home team a 23-15 edge. One more Mountaineers error put the Green at match point and a Brady kill gave the second set to Dartmouth.

The third started off in WVU's favor and, much like the previous set, the teams remained close throughout the opening minutes, with neither team able to get more than a point ahead before the lead changed. With Dartmouth leading, 10-9, the visitors turned it around to have a 13-11 edge themselves off two Green errors and a kill and, through two more ties, WVU managed to stay ahead.

With the Mountaineers sporting a 21-19 advantage, two kills and a Dartmouth error put them on the brink of victory (24-20), but a Big Green kill held them at match point for the time being. Another error on Dartmouth's side of the net gave WVU its first win of the night.

The fourth set appeared as if it would never end and was one of high intensity and aggression, as a lot was on the line for both teams. The score was tied 16 times in all. With the score locked at 17, back-to-back kills by Astarita and Lyle put Dartmouth up, 19-17, but a Hannah Shreve kill put WVU within one. Three errors on the other side of the net gave the Green a 22-18 lead but three Dartmouth errors in return put WVU within one (22-21). Sitting at match point (24-21), three Green errors allowed the Mountaineers to tie the score at 24.

From there, Dartmouth was at match point six more times, only to have WVU tie the score and force the set to continue. With the score at 30-29 in the Big Green's favor, senior Kaira Lujan's well-timed kill gave the home team the victory and ended the match before having to go to a fifth set.

The Big Green will return to action on Sunday when they face Connecticut at 2 p.m. In the meantime, the Mountaineers and the Huskies will faceoff at 5 p.m. on Saturday.