Sept. 17, 2005
Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (www.lafayette.edu) - What a difference a week makes. After going a perfect 4-0 at their own Lafayette College Invite Sept. 9-10, the Leopards' volleyball team came away winless at the Marist Red Fox Classic Sept. 16-17 at the McCann Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
After falling 3-0 to Stony Brook on the tournament's opening day, Lafayette dropped a heartbreaker to Dartmouth (3-3) Saturday morning.
The two teams went toe-to-toe over five games as Lafayette came out on the short end of a 15-8 decision in the final set.
The Leopards opened play with a 30-22 win in the first game behind a 14 kills and a .243 hitting percentage. The teams exchanged points to start, and the score was tied at 15 all before Lafayette rattled off six unanswered points to pull ahead 21-15 on blocks from juniors Veronica Canto-Ponce and Shannon Fisher. The Leopards would keep their distance, not allowing Dartmouth to pull within more than five down the stretch.
Dartmouth came out swinging in the second game, hitting for .448 en route to a 30-20 win. Lafayette found itself down 11-9 early, only to allow the Big Green to score five straight points and take a 16-9 advantage that Dartmouth would not relinquish.
Lafayette took a close third set, 31-29, as the Leopards capitalized on two consecutive Dartmouth attack errors to end the game. In a game that featured 12 ties, the Leopards took their largest lead of the game at three on three separate occasions, including a key point to make it 28-25 late.
With a 2-1 advantage heading into the fourth set, the Leopards struggled, hitting .000 percent en route to a 30-14 demise. Lafayette hit the ball slightly better, .235 percent, in the deciding game before falling 15-8. A kill from freshman Audrey O'Donnell kept the game within reach, 9-7, but the Big Green outscored the Leopards 6-1 down the stretch to take the match.
Three Leopards reached the double-figure plateau in kills, led by Canto-Ponce with 17. Sophomore Michaela Donohue and senior Catherine Herchenroder chipped in with 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Canto-Ponce also finished the match with two block solos and four block assists.
In Lafayette's second match of the day, the Leopards dropped a tough one to host Marist, 3-0. Lafayette fell to the Red Foxes, 30-19, 30-23, 30-26.
In the opening set, Lafayette started the game out hot, as freshman setter Megan Carter found Fisher for a kill and followed up with two service aces to put the Leopards up 3-0. The Red Foxes (2-9) responded, however, and mounted a 14-6 run midway through the game to take a 23-14 lead that they would not give up.
The second game resembled the first, as the Red Foxes found their groove midway through the set and kept Lafayette from gaining any significant ground. In the third set, the Leopards opened the game with a 9-1 run on four kills, three at the hands of Canto-Ponce.
The Red Foxes responded with 14 unanswered points to take a 14-9 lead. The Leopards did pull the game within one, 25-24, on a kill from sophomore Venessa Wilcox, but Marist then rattled off four straight points to keep the Leopards at bay as they walked away with the 30-26 win.
In comparison to Marist's .315, Lafayette hit just .110 overall in the second match. Wilcox led the Leopards with nine kills, while Canto-Ponce registered seven of the team's 37 total. Carter finished the match with five service aces, while putting up 27 assists for Lafayette.
The Leopards suffered their third straight loss and dropped to 7-4 overall. Lafayette returns to Easton to take on Morgan State on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.
