One More Tournament on the Docket for Dartmouth

HARTFORD INVITATIONAL
Friday – Saturday, Sept. 17-18
West Hartford, Conn.
Hartford Volleyball Gym
Live stats for all matches

Friday
Sacred Heart (5-4)
12:00 PM

Hartford (2-7)
6:00 PM
Video

Saturday
Central Connecticut State (2-7)
4:00 PM

THIS WEEKEND
Dartmouth volleyball will end tournament play on the road at the Hartford Invitational, facing Sacred Heart and the host on Friday before facing Central Connecticut State on Saturday. Video will only be available for the match against Hartford.

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Green had another 3-0 weekend, this time winning the Dartmouth Invitational by defeating UNH, Holy Cross and – most excitedly and in dramatic fashion – UConn, all by scores of 3-1.
·      This was the first time since 2015 that Dartmouth had won its home tournament, and there were only three teams playing two matches apiece at that point in time.
·      The last time the Green went 6-0 to start the year was in 2010, when they had a 7-0 run to kick off their campaign.
·      Dartmouth is the only Ivy League team to remain undefeated this far into the season and one of only 16 unbeaten teams in the nation.
·      At the end of the weekend, Emma Engstrom was named MVP and joined Ellie Blain and Karen Murphy on the All-Tournament Team.
·      Engstrom was also named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week, ending up with a total of 15 assists (1.25/set), two aces and a team-leading 65 digs (5.42/set). She is first in the conference in total digs (114) and third in digs/set (4.75).
·      Blain ended up first in points (43.5), kills (39, 3.90/set) and second in aces (4) She also added 20 digs (2.00/set) and one block assist.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Sacred Heart
The Pioneers head into their final of four straight invitationals with a record of 5-4, picking up wins against Northeastern, Hartford, Columbia, Lafayette and Fairfield along the way. The last time Dartmouth and Sacred Heart met was on Sept. 9, 2017, a match the Big Green won, 3-2.

Hartford
The host has had a bit of a rough start to its season, going 2-7. The Hawks have beat Quinnipiac and Merrimack along the way, while also falling to some difficult teams (Northeastern, Boston College, Yale, Syracuse). Dartmouth has a 6-2 record against Hartford going back to 2006, but the last time the teams met in 2019, it was the Hawks that won, 3-0.

Central Connecticut State
The Blue Devils kicked off 2021 with seven straight losses before they won two in a row against Saint Francis and Siena. The only opponent Dartmouth and CCSU have in common is UConn, a team the latter lost to by a score of 3-0 at the beginning of September. The teams have met six times between 2006 and 2016 and the Big Green have won all of them.

IVY LEAGUE STATISTICS
Even though Ivy play has not yet begun, the Dartmouth players are stacking up well against their Ancient Eight opponents in non-conference matches.

Team
Digs – 1st (457, 19.04/set)
Assists – 1st (298, 12.42/set)
Kills – 1st (335, 13.96/set)
Aces – 2nd (41)

Individual
Kills – Blain, 1st (94)
Points – Blain, 1st (58.5)
Digs – Engstrom, 1st (114)
Kills/set – Blain, 2nd (4.27)
Hitting % - Gibbs, 3rd (.353)
Blocks – Moffet, 3rd (15.0)
Digs/set – Engstrom, 3rd (4.75); Ryan, 10th (3.36)

NCAA
Digs/set – Dartmouth, 4th (19.04)
Digs/set – Engstrom, 62nd (4.75)
Kill/set – Blain, 33rd (4.27)

CAN'T BE THERE?
Live stats for all three matches can be found on DartmouthSports.com. To keep up-to-date on all of Dartmouth volleyball's news, follow the team on Twitter: @DartmouthVBall.

NEXT UP FOR DARTMOUTH
The Big Green will open Ivy League play at home next Friday against Harvard.

Schedules