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Harvard women’s volleyball (4-12, 3-5 Ivy) returned home after a short road trip to a packed, Parent’s Weekend crowd at the Malkin Athletic Center. The Crimson began its second trip through the Ivy League with a rematch against Dartmouth (5-13, 2-6)

Harvard 3 Dartmouth 1

The Big Green came out hot in the first set and used a mixed offensive attack to keep the Harvard blockers guessing.

Freshman outside Sophia Rossia and senior outside Brynne Faltinsky got the offense going for the Crimson. Faltinsky’s overpowering style proved too much for the Dartmouth blockers throughout the set.

Both offenses operated efficiently in the first set and neither team could separate. A kill by junior outside Ali Farquhar and two Big Green errors showed cracks in Dartmouth and gave Harvard the first separation of the set.

But just as Harvard opened a 17-13 lead, errors hit the Crimson for the first time. Three errors and two kills stole the lead for the Big Green before a service error knotted the set at 19.

Harvard has struggled in tight late set scenarios all season, and this set proved no different. Sloppy play gave Dartmouth a 23-20 lead. Rossi attempted to don her superhero cape and carry the Crimson back into the set, but a service error followed by a missed kill just long for Rossi, ended the set 25-22 in favor of Dartmouth.

The Harvard blockers asserted their dominance early in the second set. Sophomore middle Taylor Larkin combined with Farquhar for an early block, and junior middle Ryleigh Patterson added another on the next point.

Similar to the first set, neither team built a big lead. The small leads seesawed as Harvard led first before the Big Green struck back. A mishit kill by Larkin found hardwood to give the Crimson the lead again.

Dartmouth’s service game proved advantageous to both teams during the middle set. Harvard struggled to handle serves on track to land inbounds, but the Big Green also launched multiple serves out of bounds.

This time, Harvard rose to the moment in a close set. Faltinsky showed her upperclassman leadership to close out the set. She contributed a thundering kill and solo block to give the Crimson a commanding lead. Patterson cleaned up a free ball off Harvard’s serve as the team took the set 25-21.

The Crimson built off its momentum for a dominant third set. Harvard put together one of its cleanest sets of the year to dominate Dartmouth from the start.

Success started at the service line as the Crimson scored directly from four aces in the set and indirectly through forcing the Big Green out of system. Sophomore setter Nicole Cornell tallied two aces in the set.

Patterson powered home another free ball to end the third set 25-9.

Dartmouth stormed out of the gates in the fourth set to claim an 8-2 lead. Just when it seemed the Big Green could do no wrong, it all fell apart as a plague of errors allowed Harvard back into the set.

The squads played evenly throughout the remainder of the set and entered clutch time tied up at 20. Larkin and Rossi stepped up to combine for a block and add a kill apiece. A kill from Farquhar got Harvard to the doorstep, and Larkin brought the Crimson home with a decisive middle kill.

Harvard welcomes the two New York Ivy schools to the MAC next weekend. The Crimson defeated Columbia and lost to Cornell on the road the first time through Ivy play. Cornell is currently ranked first in the Ivy League at 7-1.

Harvard plays Columbia first on Friday Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. before facing Cornell at 6 p.m the next day.

—Staff writer Reed M. Trimble can be reached at reed.trimble@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ReedTrimble1.