Volleyball Closes Dartmouth Tournament with 3-1 Win over UConn

Sunday, September 13

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-3

Connecticut

5-3

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UConn	19	25	22	22	1
Dartmouth	25	11	25	25	3

Volleyball Closes Dartmouth Tournament with 3-1 Win over UConn

9/13/2015 4:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – The Big Green volleyball team defeated UConn, 3-1, (25-19, 11-25, 25-22, 25-22) inside Leede Arena on the final day of the Dartmouth Tournament on Sunday afternoon.

Dartmouth improved to 2-3 on the season, while UConn dipped to 5-2 after taking down WVU, 3-0, on Saturday.

At the conclusion of the match, senior Kayden Cook was named All-Tournament MVP, leading both teams with 45 assists and adding three kills and nine digs. Also being named All-Tournament were classmates Kaira Lujan, with five kills and three block assists, and Allison Brady, who had eight kills, two digs and three block assists on the day.

“I'm really proud of how we executed our game plan and how hard we are working to make adjustments,” head coach Erin Lindsey said. “The team did a really good job attacking what we had talked about. It was obvious that it was a bit of an up and down match. We were flat in the second set and there was no offensive rhythm, as UConn was giving us really tough serves, and we were having trouble passing and couldn't get the ball to the middle. At the break, we talked about getting back to the game plan, and we did a really nice job doing just that. We came out really strong after a rough second set and fought for the next two, point for point. There are a few pieces to work on, but we are getting more consistent. I am very pleased to get those two wins this weekend.

The first set started and ended in Dartmouth's favor. The home team won the first point off a kill by junior Emily Astarita and, from there, the score was tied just three times before the Green got a good enough lead to get ahead and stay ahead. With a score of 5-5, one kill by Astarita and two by senior Paige Caridi gave Dartmouth an 8-5 edge. The Big Green did not allow the Huskies to get closer than three points behind, ending the set the way it started: with a kill by Astarita.

UConn turned things around by taking the second set, scoring seven unanswered points at the start of the set and going on a six-point run and a four-point run to put a victory for Dartmouth out of the question. With the Huskies at match point, Lujan got in one more kill to make it a 24-11 match, but a kill by Kenya Cason gave UConn what would be its only victory of the day.

Eleven ties occurred in the third set, the last happening at the 15th point. The Huskies got within one (20-19), but a kill apiece by Brady and Astarita put Dartmouth ahead by three (22-19). An error on the other side of the court put the Green at match point and Caridi swiftly ended things with a kill.

Dartmouth won the first three points of the fourth set off kills by Brady and Cook and a UConn error. The Big Green had a comfortable 13-9 lead, but the Huskies were able to get six straight points to give them a 15-13 edge, their only lead of the set. A Brady kill, a UConn error and back-to-back aces by freshman Zoe Leonard quickly took the lead to the other side of the court (17-15). The two teams traded points and, with a score of 23-22, Astarita's kill put the home team on the verge of victory. Receiving the ball from Cook, Brady fired the ball over the net to end the set.

“We came out with a lot of energy,” Brady said after the match. “We started off with momentum and had a lot of intention with each point. The middles were able to pull the block a lot, which opened it up for the pin hitters. Last weekend, we came out and played with a lot of energy, and that translated to this weekend. We are getting better with each set that we're playing.”

Dartmouth will travel to Michigan next weekend for the Oakland Tournament, its final invite of the weekend, and will face Western Michigan, Eastern Illinois and the host Golden Grizzlies.

All-Tournament Team
Dartmouth – Kayden Cook (MVP)
Dartmouth – Kaira Lujan
Dartmouth – Allison Brady
UConn – Immanuella Amagu
UConn – Erika Thomas
WVU – Morgan Montgomery