Columbia dropped three close games to Dartmouth in an exciting Ivy League match-up in Levien Gymnasium, 30-22, 30-28, 30-27.
In game one Columbia trailed 15-8 but rallied with seven straight points including three kills by Amalia Viti to knot the game at 15-15. Dartmouth (12-3, 5-0 Ivy League) responded with a 7-1 run of its own, including two service aces by Megan MacGregor, that gave the Big Green the lead for good. The Lions' first-year Katie Mitchell had a strong first game with four kills on four attempts.
Columbia jumped to a 6-4 lead in game two, with help from several hard serves from Ellie Thomas. The teams traded leads eight times and tied the score 12 times in game two which saw strong attacking by both teams. With the game tied 25-25, Dartmouth called a timeout and the teams traded points again, tying the score at 28-28. The Big Green went on to score the final two points to scrape the win.
In game three, the Lions overcame early unforced errors with aggressive play to knot the game 13-13. Dartmouth broke open the game with a 9-4 run, including three service aces.
Trailing 22-17, Columbia got four kills and capitalized on a few Dartmouth errors to force a Big Green timeout, down by only one, 23-22.
Dartmouth was able to widen the gap and had match-point at 29-23, but Columbia rallied with two kills by Viti and two aces by Natalie Gerling to move within two, 27-29, before Megan Covington's team-high 10th kill put the match away for the Big Green.
Gerling led all players with 16 kills, and added eight digs, three service aces and two block assists. Viti was close behind with 12 kills and six digs. Mitchell finished with seven kills and only one error on 11 attempts, while Cassie Ligh and Thomas each had a team-high 12 digs.
Dartmouth's Megan MacGregor led all players with 18 digs and four aces.
Columbia (3-12, 0-4 Ivy League) returns to action tomorrow, October 13, for a 4 p.m. game vs. Harvard.
