Volleyball drops pair of conference home games

After starting off the 2009 season strong in the nonconference portion of its schedule, the women’s volleyball team failed to carry its success over into the first weekend of its Ivy League campaign. Columbia fell to Dartmouth (7-7, 3-1) on Friday and Harvard on Saturday (6-6, 2-2) at home.

The Light Blue (10-7, 1-3 Ivy) did not allow the Big Green to take the first match of the weekend easily. After dropping to a 2-0 set deficit, the Lions fought back and captured the following two sets. However, Columbia failed to capitalize on its comeback and fell in the final game, 15-10.

In game one against Dartmouth, the Big Green went up 7-5 early, but the Light Blue responded quickly and took the lead 11-8. Though Dartmouth senior Morgan Covington tied it up at 11 with two straight aces, the Lions were not deterred. Kills from sophomore Megan Dillinger and freshman Megan Gaughn put the Lions in the lead once again. However, the Lions soon saw their pending victory vanish as attack errors cost them the lead and eventually the game, 25-21.

With one close set behind them, the Lions returned to play in what would be the nail-biter of the match. Set two saw 15 tied scores as the Light Blue and Big Green battled back and forth for each point throughout the game. At game point, freshman Erin Longinotti delivered a game-saving kill and when the Big Green went up 25-24, Longinotti came through once again and tied it at 25. Unfortunately for the Lions, a kill and another attack error would end the game in the Big Green’s favor, 27-25.

With two close losses behind it, Columbia would not give up. Four kills from Longinotti and two aces from Gaughn provided the Light Blue with an optimistic start to game three. Junior Sarah Thompson, Gaughn, and Longinotti continued their crusade and built a 16-9 Columbia lead before Dartmouth battled back and tied the game at 20. Five more ties would ensue before the Lions could capture their first win, 29-27, on a Longinotti kill.

Whether the Light Blue had sufficient momentum to take game four was questionable at the start as Dartmouth went up 14-7. But the Lions responded aggressively, tying the score at 17 on a 9-2 run. Another kill from Longinotti put the Lions up 19-17 and an attack error by Dartmouth provided the perfect opportunity for a Gaughn ace. Sophomore Monique Roberts and Thompson continued to build the Light Blue lead before a Longinotti kill ended yet another set.

After a close start in set five, Dartmouth and Columbia battled back and forth before the Big Green ended the set 15-10 and took the match, 3-2.
Longinotti led offensively in the loss with a career-high 27 kills. Gaughn walked away with a double-double with 21 kills and 27 digs while Freshman Kelsey Musselman posted 60 assists in her position as setter.

The Lions failed to keep it as close against Harvard leading only once throughout the entire match.

Down 18-14 in game one, the Light Blue scored four unanswered points to tie it up. However, Harvard freshman Taylor Docter responded with five kills, which ended the game at 25-20.

Columbia’s only lead came at the start of game two, with a Gaughn kill in the first play. The Crimson led by as much as seven before they captured the set 25-17.

While game two started with Columbia’s only lead of the match, game three started with one of the Light Blue’s 12 service errors. The Lions kept it close throughout, coming within two of the Crimson. But the set ended in the same fashion it began. A final service error closed it out, 25-19.

In the loss, Gaughn tallied another 12 kills while Musselman picked up 23 assists.

The Lions continue their Ivy League contests next weekend against Brown and Yale.