Dartmouth Downs NJIT for Fifth Straight Win

Friday, September 16

South Orange, N.J. / Walsh Gymnasium

4:30 PM

Dartmouth College

7-1,0-0Ivy League

NJIT

3-10,0-0America East

Dartmouth

NJIT

Bomi Ogunlari action shot vs. Sacred Heart

Bomi Ogunlari ’24

Photo by: Robert Huskey

9/16/2022 6:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Big Green won in three sets on the opening day of the Seton Hall Classic

By: Kyle Relf

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Coming off four wins at home last weekend, the Dartmouth volleyball team picked up its fifth consecutive victory in dominant fashion as the Big Green defeated NJIT in three sets on the opening day of the Seton Hall Classic. Dartmouth came out on top in a back-and-forth first set before cruising in the final two.

Ellie Blain recorded a team-high 14 kills and came just shy of her third consecutive double-double as she added seven digs. Bomi Ogunlari followed with 10 kills on just 13 attacks – good for a .769 hitting percentage, one of the best single-match marks in program history. Ogunlari, along with Piper Stevens, added a pair of blocks in the Big Green's all-around effort. Taite Ryan led the team with 13 digs, which tied the senior's season high. Makenzie Arent notched 23 assists, while Karen Murphy followed with 20.

"We had a slow start, but went back to playing our style of volleyball," said head coach Gilad Doron. "Bomi and Amelia set the tone on the net and Makenzie and Karen did a great job mixing our offense. We will need to play better tomorrow and I know we will."

Clutch back-to-back kills by Amelia Gibbs and Ava Roberts were the difference makers in a neck-and-neck opening set. Dartmouth (7-1) led by as many as three at a few different points, including a 24-21 advantage, but NJIT's three-point run put Dartmouth on its heels until Gibbs and Roberts handed the game to the Big Green, 26-24. Dartmouth built an early lead in that set with Ryan's back-to-back aces and clung to a slight advantage for the majority until the Highlanders (3-10) jumped on top, 15-14. Emma Engstrom put the Big Green back on top soon after with the team's fourth ace and they wouldn't trail again.

Dartmouth's early five-point run set the tone for a dominant second set. Trailing 3-2, Stevens fired a kill and Blain followed with two more. After a Highlanders attack error, Murphy served up an ace that put Dartmouth ahead 7-3. The Big Green controlled the remainder of the set, eventually winning 25-14.

Dartmouth claimed another lopsided set in the third, 25-11, to secure its fifth consecutive win. An early five-point run, which featured kills by Blain and Gibbs, proved to be the dagger. The Big Green eventually led 10-3 after Blain strung together a pair of kills. Later on in the set, Dartmouth embarked on another five-point run, this time kickstarted by Kauany Gutz's kill. Ogunlari notched her 10th kill at match point.

The Big Green aim for two more wins Saturday afternoon on the second and final day of the Seton Hall Classic. Dartmouth is set to face Seton Hall at 12:30 p.m. and will close out the weekend against Central Connecticut State at 4:30 p.m.