Volleyball Travels to Penn and Princeton as Tournament Push Intensifies

MATCH 19
Dartmouth (13-5, 5-3) vs. Penn (2-16, 1-7)
Date: Friday, Oct. 28 | 7 p.m.
Location: Philadelphia, Pa. | The Palestra
All-Time Series: 12-41
Last Meeting: 10/2/22 – W, 3-1

ESPN+ | Live Stats | International Stream

MATCH 20
Dartmouth vs. Princeton (15-3, 7-1)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 29 | 5 p.m.
Location: Princeton, N.J. | Dillon Gymnasium
All-Time Series: 10-43
Last Meeting: 9/30/22 – L, 3-0

ESPN+ | Live Stats | International Stream

THIS WEEKEND
Dartmouth has won three in a row and now looks for four and five on the road against Penn and Princeton. The Big Green are currently tied with Brown for third in the Ivy League and look positioned to compete in the first-ever Ivy League tournament, which will feature the top four teams in the conference hosted by the highest seed.

LAST TIME OUT
It looked like Dartmouth may have been headed toward its first five-set match of the season when the Big Green needed a 30-28 decision to defeat Harvard in the first set, but the Big Green quickly flipped a switch and handily won the next two by double digits. Harvard hit just .077 against Dartmouth's excellent defensive effort and it was the first time the Big Green have held an Ivy League opponent under .100 since 2017.

BLAIN AGAINST THE QUAKERS
Penn probably isn't looking forward to seeing Ellie Blain again. Not only is she coming off one of the best matches of her career (career-high .571 hitting percentage with 12 kills), but she also has quite a history with the Quakers. In front of a national audience on ESPNU, she went for 13 kills (.435) and came just two digs shy of a double-double. In 2021, Blain rained 18 kills on Penn (.563) as Dartmouth avenged a prior loss in Philadelphia with a season-high .371 hitting percentage.

SERVICE GAME
Dartmouth is 14th in the nation in aces per set, but doesn't crack the top spot in the Ivy League. Yale claims that honor with 2.07 aces per set to the Big Green's 1.92. However, Yale has 41 more errors than aces on the season. Dartmouth is the more efficient squad with 121 aces to only 83 errors. In fact, only five of the teams that rank above Dartmouth have more aces than errors.

GIBBS' PERCENTAGE
Amelia Gibbs leads the Ivy League and ranks top-40 nationally in hitting percentage with a .376 clip. Princeton's Mariah Haislip is a close second at .371. Fellow Tigers Avery Luoma and Lucia Scalamadre also boast impressive percentages well over .300. .372 currently marks the best hitting percentage in single-season program (Annie Villanueva '12 in 2011).

WHAT'S AHEAD
Dartmouth is back home next weekend to face Columbia and Cornell at Leede Arena. The program will honor its seniors prior to the Columbia match on Saturday, Nov. 5. Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Brandon Bajorsky on the call.

Schedules