Big Green Split Matches on Day One of Dog Pound Challenge

Friday, September 20

Storrs, Conn.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-4

Providence

5-6

Providence

Dartmouth

Freshman Grace Wiczek

Photo by: Doug Austin

Big Green Split Matches on Day One of Dog Pound Challenge

9/20/2019 1:26:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Dartmouth vs. Providence Dartmouth vs. UConn

By: Charlotte Brackett

STORRS, Conn. – Dartmouth volleyball split its matches on day one of the Dog Pound Challenge, defeating Providence, 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-21) before falling to the host UConn, 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 10-25, 17-25). The Big Green are now 3-5 overall.

"I thought we played very well this morning versus Providence, both defensively and offensively," head coach Gilad Doron said. "Our passing game was solid and it gave us tons of options. Tonight, we started well and I thought we gave UConn a late run in game one and responded back in game two with our passing and serving. After the second game, we came out flat and gave them the boost they needed to take the momentum and we couldn't recover. We struggled withour ball control throughout the match and it showed in our unforced errors and on the road, it was too much to keep us in game three and four. We will have to regroup for tomorrow and play better against Holy Cross."

Providence
Freshman Grace Wiczek led the team with 11 kills, three service aces and 15 points. She was one of three players to have over a .400 hitting percentage, with junior Elise Petit leading the way (.500). Freshman Makenzie Arent had 17 digs, while sophomore Annemarie Horn was right behind with 16.

Dartmouth soon sported a 10-2 advantage in the first set following kills by Petit, and sophomores Francesca Meldrum and Emma Moffet, three Friar errors and back-to-back service aces by Wiczek. After a timeout, Providence started to work its way back until it was only trailing by four, but a trio of Friar errors and a Wiczek kill gave the Green some breathing room (18-10). The end of the set was pretty even, but the damage had already been done for Providence; kills by Petit and sophomore Nicole Liddle gave the win to Dartmouth (25-16).

After the Friars picked up the first point of the second set, the Big Green had a long rally to, once again, have a 10-2 edge. Kills by sophomore Jael Campbell and Liddle allowed Dartmouth to pull ahead by 10 points (16-6) before Providence started to chip away at that lead. The Green got their 10-point lead back, thanks to a Friar error and a Wiczek kill that ended the set (25-15).

The third set was very close. With Providence ahead, 4-3, four straight Dartmouth points from kills by Campbell and Petit and a pair of errors on the other side of the net made it a 7-4 Big Green set. After the Friars worked their way back to pull ahead, 12-11, the teams traded points and played through three ties before kills by Moffet, Liddle and Meldrum put some distance between them (21-15). Providence continued to pressure, but a couple of errors helped lead Dartmouth victory (25-21).

UConn
Liddle had a double-double (19 digs, 11 kills) and was tied with Wiczek for first with 11 points. Arent also had a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore Bella Hedley had a career-high 22 digs.

The Big Green and the Huskies were well-matched and neither team fully had control of the first set before the other swooped in to steal the lead. After barely trailing for a few points, Dartmouth pulled ahead, 15-13, only to have UConn tied it up with back-to-back kills. After three more ties and two lead changes, the home team pulled away to pick up the win (25-22).

Tied at four-all in the second, kills by Liddle and Petit and two UConn errors gave the Big Green an 8-4 advantage. The Huskies would get within two, but a 5-0 rally made it a seven-point set (14-7). Dartmouth kept its momentum up, staying comfortably ahead until kills by Petit and Wiczek made it a 1-1 match (25-17).

Set three started off in the Huskies' direction, with UConn picking up 11 of the first 12 points. Kills by Wiczek and Moffet got things moving, though a 6-0 run on the other side of the net put some distance between the teams (23-7). The Green capitalized on two UConn errors and an ace by Arent but ran out of time to truly catch up (25-10).

Dartmouth found its groove in the fourth, playing much like it had in the first and second sets. There were eight ties and six lead changes before the eighth point, at which point the Huskies had a six-point run to move ahead (14-8). They remained in control and Meldrum and Wiczek would add a kill apiece before UConn ended the match (25-17).

The Big Green will take on Holy Cross at 3 p.m. on Saturday.