Dartmouth Beats St. Francis Brooklyn in Four Sets to Win Lehigh Steel Tournament

Saturday, September 4

Bethlehem, Pa.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-0,0-0Ivy League

St. Francis Brooklyn

2-5,0-0NEC

St. Francis Brooklyn

Dartmouth

Photo by: Brent Hugo

Dartmouth Beats St. Francis Brooklyn in Four Sets to Win Lehigh Steel Tournament

9/4/2021 4:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Charlotte Brackett

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Dartmouth volleyball completed the weekend sweep with a 3-1 defeat of St. Francis Brooklyn (25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23) to end the Lehigh Steel Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

Three players had double-doubles: Makenzie Arent (21A, 17D), Karen Murphy (20A, 13D) and Ellie Blain (18K, 17D). Both Arent and Taite Ryan led with two aces each, while Amelia Gibbs and Francesca Meldrum both had three total blocks.

"We got valuable playing time and faced three different teams and styles of play this weekend," head coach Gilad Doron said. "We also learned more about what we can do under pressure and saw our team grow and learn to rally and how to rely on different players in different situations. We will use this week to continue to grow as a team and face better teams at home next weekend."

The first set was very close and neither team was able to get more than a point or two ahead as they traded kills. A pair of Terrier errors gave the Big Green their biggest lead of the set (13-10), and while that didn't last for long, a 4-1 run following kills by Ryan and Natalie Grover and an ace by Murphy soon put Dartmouth up by four (18-14). Some more St. Francis errors and kills by Blain and Bomi Ogunlari put the Big Green one point away from victory and, although they were held there for two points, Meldrum ended the set with a kill of her own (25-19).

Dartmouth took the first three points of set two, but St. Francis' 7-1 streak put the opponent up by three (9-6). The Green took advantage of some Terrier errors to pull within one before another small run gave St. Francis its edge back (15-11). Dartmouth found its groove, winning six of the next eight points thanks to kills by Gibbs, Grover and Blain, while consecutive aces by Arent tied things up at 17-all. It stayed close, with St. Francis getting out in front again, until a Grover kill made it a 24-23 set. It could have gone either way, but it was the Terriers that got the final point (23-25).

The Big Green was ready to go in set three, winning all but one of the first eight points. The Terriers didn't stay down for long, and a five-point streak a little later on got them within two (13-11). Dartmouth started to pull away again after kills by Blain, Emma Sinclair and Meldrum, but four of the next five points went to St. Francis to, once again, make it close (18-16). The Terriers made it difficult, but a kill by Meldrum and one more St. Francis error made it 2-1 in Dartmouth's favor (25-21).

Dartmouth got off to another good start in the fourth set and soon sported a three-point edge thanks to kills by Blain, Meldrum and Nicole Liddle. St. Francis worked its way back until the set was tied, but some errors by the Terriers and a kill by Sinclair gave Dartmouth the upper hand (11-8). The score was tied three times and, even though the Big Green got ahead, the Terriers stayed within striking distance (21-20). Kills by Sinclair, Gibbs and Liddle made it match point, while one final error by the other team ended it (25-23).

The Big Green will host the annual Dartmouth Invitational next weekend, welcoming UNH, Holy Cross and UConn to Leede Arena for the two-day, six-match tournament.