Volleyball drops pair of weekend matches to Harvard, Dartmouth

The women’s volleyball team continued to suffer in its Ivy campaign this weekend. Columbia (11-12, 2-8 Ivy) put up a fight against Harvard (10-11, 6-4) on Friday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit only to lose in the fifth set. On Saturday, the Lions fell to Dartmouth (9-11, 5-5) for the Light Blue’s fifth loss in two weeks.

The Crimson went up early in set one, but Monique Roberts and Kelsey Musselman combined efforts to give the Lions the advantage 4-2. However, Harvard soon found its momentum and went on an 8-0 run to give the Crimson 10-4 lead, which would prove insurmountable for Columbia. Set two proceeded in a similar fashion as Harvard rallied from an early deficit to tie the game at 4-4 and never look back. The Lions managed to close the gap to 19-16 but could not muster enough power to overcome the Crimson as the second set ended in a 25-19 loss.

Set three saw a Columbia resurgence. After the 14th tied score of the evening (at 18 apiece), the Lions took the lead. A kill by Cindy Chen widened the Light Blue lead to 20-18 and kept the Lions in the match. A final kill by Roberts ended the set at 25-22.

The Lions used their momentum to capture set four as well. Two kills by Erin Longinotti with an assist from Musselman put the Light Blue up early at 8-6. Roberts continued her impressive playing with three kills, which combined with another Longinotti kill helped Columbia build its advantage to 15-11. Blocks by Sarah Thompson and freshman Heather Braunagel helped capture the 25-19 victory for the Lions and tied the match at 2-2.

The forced fifth set was another nail-biter with 10 ties and no lead greater than three points. With the Crimson up 14-13 the Lions faced match point, but Longinotti and setter Musselman responded, combining for a kill and keeping Columbia’s hopes alive. Unfortunately for the Light Blue, the Columbia response was short-lived as Harvard produced back-to-back kills to snatch the set and the match.

For the second consecutive week, Roberts had a career-high 19 kills in addition to five blocks. Harvard’s Mikaelle Comrie also had a career high with 21 kills in the match. Chen had a double-double in the loss with 10 kills and 13 digs while Longinotti posted 13 kills.

Roberts had another impressive performance the following afternoon against Dartmouth with 16 kills and a .444 percentage in the 3-1 loss.
A service ace by Nicole Goldhaber put the Lions up 1-0 at the start of set one. Kills by Thompson and Roberts continued to build the Light Blue lead to 5-3, but the Big Green responded with consecutive kills to tie the score at five. The game remained close until a 20-20 tie, after which Dartmouth powered ahead with kills by Morgan Covington and Lexie Campbell to take the game 25-22.

Set two was the closest of the match: the score was tied 11 times and the lead changed hands six times. Down 24-23, Dartmouth faced set point and responded with two kills. With two kills by Megan Gaughn and one Dartmouth response, the score was tied at 26. A kill by Musselman on a Megan Dillinger assist and a decisive block from Roberts and Musselman ended the game in Columbia’s favor.

Despite its second-set defeat, Dartmouth found its stride in sets three and four. Dartmouth’s Megan MacGregor helped put the Big Green up 11-5 and from then on there was no catching up for the Lions. Dartmouth took the third set 25-17.

At the start of set four, the Light Blue refused to let the match go and tied the score six times before Dartmouth pushed ahead for good at 8-8. Once again MacGregor, with three kills and a service ace, helped build the Dartmouth advantage. Gaughn and Dillinger kept the set close at 15-10 but after four unanswered points the Big Green captured the set, 19-10, and the match.

MacGregor had a match-best 25 kills. Gaughn finished with 11 kills and six digs while Braunagel and Longinotti had seven kills each in the loss. Musselman posted 39 assists, two kills, and eight digs. Goldhaber and Ellie Thomas led on defense with 14 and 15 digs, respectively.
The Lions step onto the court next weekend to face Penn and Princeton.