Dartmouth Volleyball Falls to Penn in Last Match of the Season

Saturday, November 14

Philadelphia, Pa.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Penn

Dartmouth Volleyball Falls to Penn in Last Match of the Season

11/14/2009 7:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Dartmouth

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Dartmouth women's volleyball team dropped its final game of the season, 3-1 to Penn on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. With the victory the Quakers earn the Ivy League volleyball title and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Penn won by scores of 26-24, 25-17, 22-25 and 25-16 to take down a pesky Dartmouth squad. The Quakers improved to 21-5, 12-1 in the Ivy League while the Big Green closed out the season with an 11-13 overall record, 7-7 in the league.

In the first set it was Dartmouth who came out hitting, jumping out to a 6-2 advantage. Penn came back to tie it at ten, but a 5-0 run by the Big Green prompted a timeout. A Penn kill sparked a 9-3 run which left the Quakers on the right side of a 20-18 score.

Dartmouth tied it back up at 21, but a kill and a Big Green error put Penn in front 23-21. A Red and Blue attack error and two straight strikes by Morgan Covington (Katy, Texas) evened it up at 24 forcing another Penn timeout. Elizabeth Semmens put the Quakers back up 25-24 and ended it with her second kill in as many points.

The Red and Blue opened with a 6-3 run in the second set before Dartmouth came back to tie it at nine. Penn didn't allow the Big Green to take the lead, going on an 8-2 streak to push the advantage to six at 17-11. Dartmouth wouldn't get any closer than six the rest of the way as the Quakers won it 25-17.

The Big Green wouldn't go down quietly, taking a 6-2 lead to open the third set. Penn was unable to get even with Dartmouth, getting only as close at one at 10-9. The deficit continued to hover between four and two as the Big Green maintained the lead for the remainder of the set, finishing with a 25-22 victory.

In the final set, the Quakers wouldn't be denied as they scored the first four points and seven of the first nine. A run by Dartmouth put them within three at 11-8, however a 6-1 run by Penn made it 17-9. The Red and Blue upped its lead to 20-10 and then traded points with the Big Green for the remainder of the set, finishing with the 25-16 win.

Dartmouth senior Convington was the leading hitter for the Big Green with 12 kills and a .414 attack percentage, while sophomore Madeline Baird (Austin, Texas) had a team-high 21 digs. Senior Megan MacGregor (Carlsbad, Calif.) also added 12 kills while four Big Green players had double-digits digs. Rookie Alissa Santa Maria (Yorba Linda, Calif.) had a double-double with 35 assists and 15 digs.