W. Volleyball Sweeps Through Dartmouth Invitational, Drops Only One Game in Three Matches To Win Tourney

The Harvard women’s volleyball team moved two games ahead of .500 for the first time since 2002, sweeping its three-game slate and claiming the Dartmouth Invitational title.

The Crimson (5-3, 1-0 Ivy) tallied its first win in Ivy League play with a 3-1 defeat of the host Big Green in the tournament’s opening match.

Co-captain Kaego Ogbechie led Harvard with 35 kills on the weekend, despite sitting out the Crimson’s final match of the weekend against LaSalle.

HARVARD 3, DARTMOUTH 1

Harvard dominated the Big Green in games one and four and did just enough to earn a split of the middle two frames en route to a 3-1 win (30-22, 30-28, 25-30, 30-20).

The Crimson jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Big Green stormed back in game three.

Dartmouth took the first four points of the frame and never allowed Harvard to get close, as it posted a 30-25 win.

The Crimson responded with a dominating performance in the fourth frame to close out the match.

After taking 18 of the last 28 points in game one, the Crimson capitalized on its momentum to take a 7-3 lead early in the second frame.

But the Big Green chipped away, finally drawing even at 26. Harvard took four of the next six points to take its second-straight game and a commanding lead in the match.

Ogbechie led the Crimson with 25 kills and 22 digs while senior outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer added 14 and 22, respectively.

HARVARD 3, IONA 0

In the first of two Saturday sweeps, the Crimson held Iona to under a .030 hitting percentage for the match and won each of the three games by an average of nearly 10 points (30-15, 30-25, 30-21).

After taking the first game in a romp, Harvard faced a more difficult challenge in the second, as Iona posted more kills than the Crimson in the frame.

The Gaels 11 attack errors hurt them down the stretch, though, as Harvard locked up the five-point win.

After the relatively contentious second frame, the Crimson coasted to victory in the third, holding Iona to a negative hitting percentage.

Ogbechie and sophomore Katie Turley-Molony led Harvard with 10 kills and freshman Laura Mahon added eight kills and eight digs.

HARVARD 3, LASALLE 0

Harvard saved its most dominating performance for last, as it demolished LaSalle 3-0 (30-23, 30-16, 30-21) to clinch the Dartmouth Invitational title.

The first game was relatively evenly contested, as the Crimson posted 18 kills as a team and the Explorers responded with 15. Harvard’s hitting percentage just barely edged that of LaSalle, but it was enough of a cushion to allow the Crimson to close out the Explorers 30-23.

While Harvard’s attack fell off a bit in games two and three, LaSalle’s went into the tank over the same span, as the Explorers registered 18 kills and committed 18 attack errors for a hitting percentage of .000.

The Crimson took advantage, winning the final two frames by a total of 25 points.

Harvard’s dominating performance came with Ogbechie, the Crimson’s kills per game leader, sitting on the bench and Schweitzer, the team’s overall kills leader, recording a negative hitting percentage.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.