Makasci and McCreery have Career High Performances; Volleyball Falls to Buffalo

Saturday, September 5

Amherst, N.Y.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-1,0-0Ivy League

Buffalo

5-1,0-0MAC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Dartmouth	22	18	25	17	1
Buffalo	25	25	23	25	3

Photo by: Nick LoVerde

Makasci and McCreery have Career High Performances; Volleyball Falls to Buffalo

9/5/2026 4:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Dartmouth volleyball dropped a 3-1 decision to Buffalo on Friday afternoon at Broadview Arena, falling 25-22, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17. The Big Green forced a fourth set behind a late push in the third but couldn't sustain it, falling to 1-1 on the season as Buffalo improved to 6-1.

Buffalo controlled the first set from the opening point, scoring five of the first six behind Hailey Campagna and Manoela Forlin and never trailing on the way to a 25-22 win. Zori Brown and Audrey Kalorin pushed to close the deficit, bringing the Big Green within three points after a six point run. Despite the late comeback, Dartmouth was not able to close the gap.

The Bulls pulled away in the second set, using a service run from Maddie Mitchell — two aces and a kill during the stretch — to open a 10-7 lead and build on it from there, closing out a 25-18 win to move within a set of the match.

Dartmouth answered with its best set of the day in the third, trailing by as many as five points midway through (6-11) before ripping off a 7-0 run keyed by Irmak Makasci, who had a kill and an ace during the surge, to tie the set at 15. Elle McCreery and Brown took over from there, trading kills and a service ace to push the Big Green in front, and Dartmouth closed it out 25-23 to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Buffalo shut the door in the fourth. Dartmouth stayed within a point or two into the teens, but a string of Big Green attack errors let the Bulls pull away for good, and Buffalo finished the match with a 25-17 win.

Brown led Dartmouth offensively, finishing with 12 kills on .300 hitting. McCreery was right behind her with nine kills — tying her career high — and a team-best six total blocks, while her 15.5 points marked a new career best. Makasci added six kills and set a career high with 10 digs, while Imamura chipped in eight kills. Sophia Gagnepain and Julia York split setting duties, combining for 30 assists, while Kalorin came off the bench to hit .750 on four attacks. Dartmouth finished the match hitting .178 as a team, well off Buffalo's .224 clip, a gap that proved decisive over the four sets.

The Big Green will close out their opening weekend as they face Canisius for the second time this weekend Sunday at 2pm.