Harvard Volleyball Falls to Big Green in Five Sets

Despite consistent play all night, the Harvard women’s volleyball team (7-4, 0-1 Ivy) fell to Dartmouth (9-3, 1-0) Saturday night in the opening Ivy League match for both teams.

The contest came down to a decisive fifth set after the Crimson and the Big Green traded wins in the first four games. Harvard came into the match coming off of a loss against Northeastern in the Harvard Invitational last weekend, while Dartmouth was riding a four-game winning streak.

The Big Green took the victory, 25-22, 23-25, 26-25, 15-25, and 15-10, bookending the tight match with a pair of set victories.

“Coming into [the match], we were pumped—it was the Ivy League opener,” co-captain Christine Wu said. “We’re matched up really well against Dartmouth, and I think we prepared well for the [the match].”

Despite the Crimson’s careful preparation, unable to overcome an early Dartmouth advantage, it dropped the first set. A kill from junior Taylor Docter brought the Harvard within one late in the game, but three kills from the Big Green’s front line sealed the first win of the match.

The Crimson changed its fortunate in the second set, and was able to rebuild some of the momentum it had lost in the first, with three consecutive kills in the first five points of the game.

A block by sophomores Erin Cooney and Teresa Skelly put Harvard up 24-22, and a service error from the Big Green evened the playing field between the two teams, now tied at 1-1.

The two traded the next two sets, with Dartmouth taking the third and Harvard coming back to force the match into a fifth-game decision.

Even with its decisive 25-15 fourth-set victory, two consecutive service errors put the Crimson in a hole that it could not escape, falling to the Big Green, 15-10.

“The game was a nail-biter, and we definitely fought back, but it just wasn’t enough,” Wu said. “Dartmouth is a great team that hit with no fear and we were hesitant…We weren’t going out with our guns firing, trying to earn our won points.”

—Staff writer B. Marjorie Gullick can be reached at gullick@college.harvard.edu.

—Check thecrimson.com for updates.