With just one weekend of league contests remaining in the season, the Ivy League women's volleyball race is coming down to the wire, with five teams vying for a share of first place.

Dartmouth and Harvard begin the week in a dead heat at the top of the standings.

The Big Green (16-6, 4-1 Ivy) is the league's hottest squad, having reeled off nine consecutive victories, including a pair of 3-0 triumphs over Central Connecticut and Holy Cross last week.

Paving the way for Dartmouth has been the steady play of freshman Paige Perry, who averaged 2.17 kills and 3.33 digs in last week's victories, including 10 kills and 13 digs in the win over Central Connecticut.

The Big Green faces a tough test this weekend, however, with road games at Brown and Yale on Saturday and Sunday.

Although Harvard (10-11, 4-1) finds itself perched atop the league standings, its play of late has been inconsistent.

While the Crimson dealt the Big Green its only league setback on October 4, Friday's 3-2 setback at Manhattan left it with five losses in its last six contests, one of which came at the hands of league foe Penn.

On Saturday Harvard showed signs of life, however, with a pair of encouraging 3-0 wins over Lehigh (15-4, 15-11, 15-6) and Long Island (15-9, 15-11, 15-12) at the Manhattan Tournament.

Junior Lolita Lopez earned a spot on the Ivy League Honor Roll for the week, averaging 2.31 kills and 1.92 digs. She also recorded a career-high seven service aces in a 3-1 loss to Rutgers last Thursday.

Like Dartmouth, Harvard will spend this weekend at Yale and Brown, with games on Friday and Saturday respectively.

Yale, Princeton and Brown are each one game behind the league leaders heading into the weekend.

The Elis (15-7, 3-2) are coming off an encouraging 3-0 week that saw victories over Fairfield, Hartford and Brown.

Sophomore Rosie Wustrack dominated the matches for Yale in garnering Ivy League Player of the Week Honors for the third time this year.

She averaged 3.67 kills, 3.25 digs and 1.17 blocks while hitting at a .470 clip in the three contests, including an 18-kill, 15-dig, five block performance in the Brown victory.

Princeton (7-9, 3-2) will need some help if it is to vault to the top of the league standings.