Dartmouth Remains First in League with 3-2 Win over Columbia

New York, N.Y. – In its closest match this season, the Dartmouth volleyball team rallied to defeat Columbia, 3-2, (21-25, 25-20, 30-28, 25-27, 20-18) on the road Saturday.

The Big Green are now 9-7 on the season and 6-1 in Ivy League play, while the Lions dipped to 5-11 and 3-4 in conference action.

Senior Paige Caridi and junior Stacey Benton recorded double-doubles, with Caridi registering a season-high 26 kill and 11 digs, and Benton ending the night with 14 digs and 43 assists.

Columbia took control of the first set, quickly taking a 10-5 lead. Dartmouth slowly started to close the gap and, following two Lion errors, the Green trailed by just one (13-12). The visitors stayed within a few points until the end, when three straight points off two kills and a Dartmouth error gave Columbia the win. 

It was not until halfway through the second set that Dartmouth established itself as the leader. Tied at 13, two kills by Caridi and a Columbia error put the visitors ahead, 16-14. The Lions did not make it easy, staying within two or three points the whole time, but three consecutive points off a Caridi kill and two errors gave one set to each team. 

Twenty-one ties occurred in a very close third set. With the score tied at 23, junior Molly Kornfeind’s kill made it match point for the Big Green, but a Dartmouth error gave Columbia’s its 24th point. A kill for the Lions put them at match point, but senior Kaira Lujan’s timely kill tied things at 25. 

Columbia was at match point three more times after that, but Dartmouth saved it every time. Tied at 28, junior Emily Astarita had back-to-back kills to give the Green the victory. 

The Lions started the fourth off with a 3-0 lead and remained ahead for the majority of the set until a Columbia error tied things at 20. The two teams tied the score at every point and, with Dartmouth leading, 25-24, an error by the Green tied things at 25. An ace for the Lions put the home team at match point and an error by the visitors sent the match to a fifth set. 

Columbia led for much of the fifth and, following a kill and a Dartmouth error, was at match point with a comfortable advantage (14-11). Four points by the Green from two Caridi kills and two Columbia errors put Dartmouth up, 15-14. Four ties later, the score was at 18-18 and an error by the Lions put the Big Green at match point. Astarita’s kill gave the victory to Dartmouth.

Next weekend, the Green will host a single match, taking on Harvard at 7 pm. on Friday.