Dartmouth Splits Final Day of Seton Hall Classic

Saturday, September 17

South Orange, N.J. / Walsh Gymnasium

12:30 PM

Dartmouth College

7-2,0-0Ivy League

Seton Hall

8-3,0-0Big East

Dartmouth

Seton Hall

Taite Ryan action shot versus Sacred Heart

Taite Ryan ’23

Photo by: Robert Huskey

Dartmouth Splits Final Day of Seton Hall Classic

9/17/2022 6:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Seton Hall)Box Score (CCSU)

The Big Green tied their best start through 10 matches in program history at 8-2

By: Kyle Relf

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Dartmouth's late run fell short in a narrow four-set loss to Seton Hall before the Big Green rolled to a three-set victory over Central Connecticut State Saturday at the Seton Hall Classic. Now sitting at 8-2 at the conclusion of the nonconference slate, Dartmouth has tied its best start through 10 matches in program history.

"We learned a lot about ourselves today, especially against Seton Hall," head coach Gilad Doron said. "We were able to make the adjustments we needed, but couldn't finish Game 4, which was a disappointing ending after making some very good plays to be in position to force a fifth set. I was proud of how we responded to play much cleaner from receiving and offense to serving and defending against CCSU."

Bomi Ogunlari received All-Tournament honors following Dartmouth's final match of the weekend. She posted 10 kills on just 13 attacks Friday against NJIT and led the Big Green with six blocks in the win over CCSU.

Seton Hall 3, Dartmouth 1

Dartmouth dropped the first two sets to Seton Hall (8-3), but edged the Pirates in the third and looked primed to force a fifth set after leading by eight late in the fourth, but ultimately succumbed to the Pirates' eight-point run, which eventually lifted the hosts to a 26-24 win. Ogunlari led Dartmouth with nine kills, while Blain and Gibbs followed with eight apiece. Emma Engstrom tied a season high with 20 digs while Makenzie Arent and Karen Murphy combined for 36 assists. Murphy went for a double-double with 17 assists and a season-high 15 digs. The Big Green registered a .146 hitting percentage to the Pirates' .158.

Both teams notched their best hitting percentages in a tightly contested first set. The Big Green found themselves trailing early after Seton Hall's five-point run, but hung around until they eventually trailed by just one late in the set thanks to a pair of Taite Ryan kills. Perri Lucas' kill at set point allowed the Pirates to escape with an early edge.

Dartmouth once again hung with Seton Hall for the duration of the second set. The game was knotted 21-all after Amelia Gibbs' kill, but the Big Green ultimately fell 25-21 after the Pirates' four-point run. Doron's squad previously trailed by as many as five, but was still able to give Seton Hall all it could handle thanks to a balanced offense that featured kills from six different attackers.

Dartmouth opened up an early lead in the third set and successfully held off the Pirates, despite the hosts' late run that eventually handed them a 22-21 lead. The Big Green reclaimed the lead via consecutive Seton Hall mistakes and later secured the set with Ryan's kill.

All signs pointed to a fifth set when Ava Roberts' kill put Dartmouth on top 22-14 in the fourth set. That was until Seton Hall rattled off eight straight points and eventually stole a 26-24 victory as the home crowd breathed a sigh of relief.

Dartmouth 3, Central Connecticut State 0

After nearly missing out on a thrilling comeback against the hosts, Dartmouth rolled to a three-set win over Central Connecticut State. Blain notched 15 kills with a .462 hitting percentage, while Gibbs fired 11 kills at a .667 clip. Arent set up the overwhelmingly successful attackers with 23 assists, while Engstrom had 11 digs. Dartmouth registered a season-best .427 hitting percentage in its impressive tournament finish.

The Big Green set the tone for a dominant end to the tournament with a convincing 25-14 Set 1 win. An early run propelled by Blain and Kauany Gutz put the Big Green on top early and CCSU was unable to mount a comeback against a high-powered Dartmouth offense that hit well over .300 in all three sets.

The second set was Dartmouth's most dominant as the Big Green came out on top 25-9 after erupting for a .682 hitting percentage. Blain powered that one-sided set with five kills.

It was more of the same in the third – Dartmouth cruised to a 25-15 win to end its nonconference schedule on a high note. The action concluded with Dartmouth's five-point run that culminated in Blain's match-point kill.

Ivy League play is forthcoming as the Big Green travel to Harvard on Saturday, Sept. 24. The conference opener will begin at 5 p.m.