Astarita Earns 1,000th Career Kill in 3-2 Defeat of Cornell

Friday, October 14

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

7-9, 1-5

Cornell

6-9, 1-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Cornell	25	15	26	22	13	2
Dartmouth	20	25	24	25	15	3

Big Green Fall to Quakers, 3-2, in Close Ivy Battle

Astarita Earns 1,000th Career Kill in 3-2 Defeat of Cornell

10/14/2016 9:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – Despite dropping the first and third sets, the Dartmouth volleyball team fought back to win the final two to defeat Cornell, 3-2 (20-25, 25-15, 24-26, 25-22, 15-13) at Leede Arena on Friday evening.

The Big Green snapped a losing streak that spanned back to early September and picked up their first Ivy League victory to improve to 7-9 overall and 1-5 in conference play, while the Big Red dipped to 6-9 and 1-6.

Senior Emily Astarita got her 1,000th career kill early in the first set, becoming just the sixth Big Green volleyball player in program history to reach the milestone. She concluded the match with a double-double (19 kills, 18 digs), while sophomore Zoe Leonard also had a double-double with a team-leading 31 assists and 12 digs.

“It was great to have our first Ivy win,” head coach Gilad Doron said. “It has been a very unusual season so far, which is a true testament to our team that never quits. Despite the ups and downs of the match, we were able to count on different players to make big plays, and that shows a true team effort. After the first game, where the defensive effort wasn't there, we picked it up and played very inspired defense that helped us make plays and put us in a situation where we ended up winning the match.”

The first set was very evenly matched in the early stages, with the teams staying within two points of each other at all times. The Big Green got as far ahead as 12-9, but a 12-2 run by the Big Red made it 21-12 in their favor. Dartmouth had a 5-1 run of its own following kills by Astarita (2), classmate Molly Kornfeind (2) and a Cornell error, but two Big Red kills ended the set (25-20).

Although Cornell won the first two points of the first set, Dartmouth had a 7-1 run to make it a 7-3 set. The Big Green never allowed the visitors to get close enough to make a comeback possible, going on another five-point run and putting nine points between them following two Cornell errors, and kills by Astarita and classmate Kaira Lujan (21-12). A Lujan kill gave Dartmouth its first victory, a very decisive, 25-15 win.

The third set could have gone in either direction, as there were a lot of ties near the end of the set. After Dartmouth had made it 18-13, Cornell went on a 6-1 run to tie the score at 19-all. Each time the Big Green would pull ahead by a point, the Big Red would tie it immediately afterwards. The last tie occurred at 23-all and a Cornell error made it 24-23 in Dartmouth's favor, but two Green errors and one kill gave the Red their second win of the night (26-24).

There were eight ties before the eighth point, at which time Dartmouth started to pull ahead, making it 10-8 following an ace by freshman Corinne Cox and a kill by sophomore Samantha Bozoian. From there, the Big Green put as many as five points between them and the Big Red, creeping quickly towards another victory. Ahead by a score of 23-19, three straight points by Cornell made it a 23-22 set, but a Cornell error and a kill by junior Sara Lindquist forced a fifth set (25-22).

Six of the first eight points of the fifth set went to Cornell. Dartmouth slowly started to chip away at that lead and, following a 6-1 run, the Big Green had turned things around to make it a 9-8 set. The Big Red tied the score twice, but a three-point run after kills by Lujan and Kornfeind all but sealed the deal for Dartmouth (13-10). Cornell was not going to make it easy, though, as two points on the other side of the net made it a close one (13-12). A kill by Astarita made it match point and, following another point for Cornell, a kill by senior Danielle Glinka wrapped things up (15-13).

The Big Green will return to action on Saturday with a 5 p.m. match against Columbia.