The Dartmouth Sports Weekly 3/26/18

03.26.18

Big Green Takes Third at NCAA Skiing Championships p. 4-5

Mannella and Trygstad-Saari lead Big Green in the Paralympics p. 6 Griffith’s Got Stats: March Madness Review — Where were you when it happened? p. 7

The Weekend Roundup p. 2–3

Senior Spring: Sara Lindquist ’18 excels both on and off the court p. 8 COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH SPORTS AND CLARKSON CREATIVE

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

The weekend Roundup COMPILED BY SABENA ALLEN, LUKE GITTER AND MAYA MOTEN

TRACK & FIELD The Dartmouth women and men’s track and field teams traveled to Florida this past weekend to compete in the Florida State University meet, finishing in fourth and sixth places respectively. The women’s team scored 106 total points while the men’s secured 80 points.

The Big Green women fared well in the races as Lauren Sapone ’20 took the top spot in the 2000m steeplechase with a time of 6:51.57. The highlight of the day was the 5000m race where the team earned a quarter of their points and Big Green runners earned the top three places. Led

by Julia Stevenson ’20 who secured first with an impressive 16:27.50,

classmates Olivia Lantz ’19 and Lillian Anderson ’19 finished within a minute of their teammate to take second and third.

The men also found luck in the event as Kyle Dotterrer ’18 and Sean Laverty ’20 took the top two spots with respective times of 14:51.43 and 14:58.69. The men won another title on the day when Alec Eschholz ’19 took second with 52.82s while third-place teammate Max Frye ’21 finished in 53.76s in the 400m hurdles.

In two weeks, the Big Green will split up to travel to California for the Sam Adams Multi-Event, to Connecticut for the Mark Young Invitational and to New Jersey for the Sam Howell Invitational.

W LACROSSE Dartmouth took on Jacksonville on Wednesday for the first time in program history, and the Big Green was just able to edge out the Dolphins 17-16, extending Dartmouth’s win streak to five games. Tori Chanenchuk ’20 had three goals and three assists on the game and Ellie Carson ’20 recorded four goals and two assists. Kathryn Giroux ’19 finished the game with an astounding 19 draw controls to break the Ivy League single-game record of 15 and her own record of 13. The Big Green got a stop on the Dolphins in the

final possession to close the game.

The Big Green travelled to face Princeton on Saturday, defeating them 15-12 and improving to a 6-1 record for the season. Elizabeth Mastrio ’19 led the women’s team with five goals and six points, followed by teammates Kierra Sweeney ’19’s three points and Sophia Turchetta ’20’s two points.

Goalie Kiera Vrindten ’20 made 11 saves to help the Big Green in their win.

Dartmouth will travel to Cambridge to take on Harvard next Saturday.

Zachary Benjamin ’19 Editor-in-Chief

Hanting Guo ’19 Publisher

Ioana Solomon ’19 Amanda Zhou ’19 Zachary Benjamin ’19 Hanting Guo ’19 Executive Editors Editor-in-Chief Publisher

3.26.18 Vol. CLXXV No. 1

03.26.17 Vol. CLXXV No. 1

Ioana Solomon ’19 Amanda Zhou ’19 Executive Editors

Mark Cui ’19 Samantha Hussey ’20 Mark Cui ’19 Sports Editors Samantha Hussey ’20 Sports Editors

Divya Kopalle ’21 Divya Kopalle ’21’21 Michael Lin Michael Lin ’21 Photography Editors Photography Editors Jaclyn Eagle ’19 Templating Editor

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018

BASEBALL On March 19, the Big Green lost a close game to San Jose State 4-3. The Spartans took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning, but Dartmouth scored two runs in the third to take its first lead.

The score was tied 2-2 in the fourth, but San Jose had two more runs in the sixth to take the lead for good. Dartmouth was scheduled to play against Westmont on March 20, but the game was canceled and will not be rescheduled due to extreme rainfall in the Santa Barbara area.

The Cal Poly Mustangs hosted the Dartmouth Big Green for a series of three games from March 22-24. The first day was postponed a day due to weather conditions. The Mustangs proceeded to win all three games with final scores of 10-3, 11-2 and 5-0. Dartmouth is scheduled to play Quinnipiac on Wednesday, March 28 in Hanover.

Following that, the Big Green will play Penn for a series of three games from March 31 to April 1 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

M LACROSSE On March 20, Dartmouth men’s lacrosse lost to No. 10 Virginia with a final score of 12-6. Ben Martin ’20 had a hat trick, while George Prince ’21 finished with one goal and one assist and was first with four ground balls. Goalie George Christopher ’20 made 12 saves and allowed 12 goals.

On Saturday, Dartmouth again fell in a hardfought loss to Harvard 10-8. The Big Green’s

record dropped to 2-5 for the season and 0-1 in Ivy League play. Martin continued his strong play by scoring a hat trick for a consecutive game while teammate Prince joined him with a hat trick of his own. Jack Korzelius ’18 finished with two points from a goal and an assist and goalie George Christopher finished the game with an impressive season-high of 15 stops.

Dartmouth will host Cornell next Saturday.

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

M TENNIS On March 22, No. 28 Dartmouth men’s tennis lost to No. 22 Memphis in a close 4-3 battle, dropping the Big Green’s record to 14-4. The team clinched the doubles point after wins by pairs Max Fliegner ’18 and Peter Conklin ’21 as well as Roko Glasnovic ’19 and Casey Ross ’21. After the first

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four singles matches, Dartmouth held a narrow 3-2 lead. However, Memphis won the final two singles matches at the No.1 and No.2 positions to secure the victory. The men’s team opens their Ivy League play on Saturday, March 31 against Harvard in Cambridge, MA.

SOFTBALL

EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The women’s team lost both its matches this week against Pepperdine and Long Beach State.

On March 20, the women’s tennis team fell to No. 2 Pepperdine 5-2. Kristina Mathis ’18 had a strong performance, beating No. 25 ranked Luisa Stefani 6-4, 6-3, but Pepperdine took the doubles point and secured victories at the No. 2, 3, 4 and 6 positions to clinch the match.

On March 23, the Big Green lost to Long Beach State at the Rhodes Tennis Center in

a close 4-3 match. While Dartmouth won the doubles point after Allison Chuang ’19 and Maddie Hwang ’21 won 7-5 and Abigail Chiu ’21 and Julia Schroeder ’18 won 7-5, they only secured two of the needed three singles matches.

Now 7-7 overall following the loss, the Big Green will return for Ivy play for their March 31 opener in Hanover, taking on Harvard at 2 p.m.

SAILING The sailing team competed in two events this weekend, the Joseph R. Duplin Women’s Team Race in Medford, MA and the Friss Trophy

Team Race in Providence, RI. The Big Green battled through tough winds and strong ebb tides to place third in both.

ISHAAN JAJODIA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

The softball team improved to 8-12 on the season and 2-1 in the Ivy League.

The Big Green continued their season with a six-game away stretch this past week. Beginning by traveling to Texas, the team took two losses in a doubleheader against Lamar. In the first game, the Cardinals pulled away in the third inning by scoring five runs.

Despite a rally by Michah Schroder ’20 and Calista Almer ’20 in the top of the sixth, Dartmouth was unable to bring any runners home, falling to the home team 8-0. In the second game, Dartmouth’s offensive woes continued as it fell 4-0.

Despite the crushing early losses in Texas, the team left the Lone Star State on a positive note, defeating Houston Baptist with a 7-2 win.

Dartmouth took an early lead with Claire Bird ’18 batting in McKenna Gray ’21. The Huskies attempted to rally against the 6-0 lead during the fifth inning with a homer from Demi Janak. However, Morgan Martinelli ’19 secured Dartmouth’s win with a bang, hitting a home run in the seventh inning.

Dartmouth finished their

away series opening Ivy League conference play by defeating Penn 2-1 in a series of three games. In the first game, the Quakers led off with a home run by Sarah Cwiertnia and never looked back, finishing with a dominating 8-0 win. The Big Green bounced back in the second game, starting with two homers scored by Schroder.

Although Penn attempted to cut the lead with two runs in the sixth, the Big Green came out on top with a score of 4-2. Dartmouth clinched the third game with a 3-1 victory. The home team took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. The game was at a standstill until the sixth inning, when Taylor Ward ’18 broke the game open with a three-run homer. Following this week’s play, the Big Green is now 8-12 overall with a 2-1 record in the Ivy League.

On March 31 and April 1, the team will open its home schedule with three games against Columbia.

W GOLF On March 19 and 20, the Dartmouth women’s golf team scored a total of 312 points to finish in a tie for eighth at the Otter Invitational in Pebble Beach, California. On day two, the 20 competing teams faced cold temperatures and constant light rain. Although the teams tried to play through it, the steady rain won out as the second day results were called off. With the final results based only on the first round, Dallas Baptist captured the team title with a score of 291 (+7). Out of the

114 total competitiors, the Big Green’s Jessica Kittelberger ’18 and Maddie Nelson ’20 tied for 32nd, Kristen Soh ’20 tied for 41st, Moon Cheong ’21 tied for 65th and Catharine Roddy ’19 tied for 83rd. Both Julianne Strauch ’21 and Bethany Burns ’20 played individually; Strauch tied for 23rd and Burns tied for 89th. The Big Green will play again in Galloway, New Jersey in the FDU Checkmate Challenge at the Seaview Golf Resort on March 31 and April 1.

M GOLF The Big Green traveled to South Carolina this weekend to compete in the Furman Intercollegiate Invitational. Despite poor weather conditions that caused a stop in play, the team finished in a tie for 13th with Winthrop University after scoring 902 (+38). In a competitive field of twenty-one teams, No. 28 North Florida finished with an impressive 17-under to claim first place.

James Turner ’21 was the top performer for the Big Green in the tournament, scoring eight-

over 224 overall, which left him tied for 48th.

Dartmouth’s top performer during the first two rounds, Will Bednarz ’20, struggled in the final round with an eight-over 80 to finish in a tie for 63rd place. Jason Liu ’21 had the best performance on the third day, earning five birdies in the back nine to score an even par.

The Big Green returns to action on March 30th and 31st at the Cornell Spring Event in Jupiter, Florida.

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018

Big Green takes third at NCAA Skiing Championships Dartmouth takes home four individual titles

BY EVAN MORGAN The Dartmouth Senior Staff

Women’s Top Finishers

Men’s Top Finishers

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Men’s 10K Classical

Women’s 5K Classical COURTESY OF CLARKSON CREATIVE AND DARTMOUTH SPORTS

Alexa Dlouhy ’19 finished in tenth place in the women’s slalom, the only Big Green athlete to finish in the top 10.

Women’s 15K Freestyle

Women’s Giant Slalom

Women’s Slalom

The trophy case in Robinson Hall might need a new shelf following Dartmouth’s return from the 2018 NCAA skiing championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The team won four individual titles and took third place overall, tied with 2011 for the program’s best finish since its 2007 national championship win.

While another national championship eluded the Big Green, freshman sensation Katharine Ogden ’21 and men’s alpine veterans Tanguy Nef ’20 and Brian McLaughlin ’18 made Dartmouth just the ninth team to win four individual titles in a single year since 1989 when all eight events were included.

Day One compressed all the triumphs and agonies of the NCAA Championships into three hours of racing. The event opened in thrilling fashion with the men’s giant slalom.

McLaughlin and Nef both made up big chunks of time on the bottom half of the course to finish the first run in fourth and sixth, respectively. The second time down the course, consistency carried the day. McLaughlin charged down the hill with the third-fastest run and took over first place from Nef, who led all skiers on the second run. When the powder settled, McLaughlin and Nef remained in first and second. It was the first men’s giant

slalom title for Dartmouth since 1999, and the pair of podiums — plus Thomas Woolson ’17s 16th-place finish — shot the Big Green into first place overall. Even for an extremely talented men’s alpine team, the one-two finish was nearly a best-case scenario.

But the women’s giant slalom soon turned into a worst-case scenario. Neither sophomore standout Steph Currie ’20 nor Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association giant slalom leader Foreste Peterson ’18 made it down the hill in their second run. The rare off day from two of the East’s top giant slalom skiers left Alexa Dlouhy ’19 as the last Big Green woman standing. Though Dlouhy scooped up 4.5 points, Dartmouth plummeted to fifth overall, effectively out of the running for the team championship.

“Certainly when the guys went one-two the first morning, it sort of made everyone feel like ‘Oh, we have to give it all we’ve got,’ and maybe that’s part of what contributed to [Peterson] and [Currie] going out that afternoon because they were a little bit overhyped on the day,” said director of skiing and head coach of women’s Nordic skiing Cami Thompson Graves. “Then when [the women’s alpine team] didn’t have a great afternoon, it took a little bit of the pressure off [the Nordic teams].”

Over the remaining three days, the team battled back up in the overall standings. Ogden became the first female Dartmouth skier ever to win an NCAA cross-country title, and she made it look easy as she beat the field by more than 45 seconds in Thursday’s 5-kilometer race. Lydia Blanchet ’19 also finished ninth, giving Dartmouth two more All-Americans.

Dartmouth added another two AllAmericans later in the day when Callan DeLine ’18 and Luke Brown ’18 finished sixth and ninth in the 10-kilometer classic. The Nordic teams’ efforts earned 121 points and the Big Green gained a spot in the standings, moving from fifth to fourth.

Day Three brought alpine teams back to Howelsen Hill, this time under the lights in the night slalom. Dlouhy earned a spot on the All-America second team for the third straight year, finishing tenth, with Currie close behind in 13th. In a cruel twist, Peterson’s college career ended with a DNF as she fell on the upper section of the course.

Then all eyes were on Nef, the top men’s slalom skier in the East this season. A solid first run put him into third, 11 hundredths of a second back from Vermont’s Sandy Vietze in first. With some adjustments, Nef had the fastest second run of the evening. No athlete would come close to touching the Swiss native

COURTESY OF CLARKSON CREATIVE AND DARTMOUTH SPORTS

Brian McLaughlin ’18 walked away with an individual title in the men’s giant slalom, with teammate Tanguy Nef ’20 finishing in second.

as he won by more than three quarters of a second.

“Getting second in the [giant slalom] behind [McLaughlin] was the best feeling because we were both enjoying the day, the perfect day, and I was glad that he was able to win,” Nef said. “Then the slalom felt like it was my turn, it was my event and I was able to make it happen, and that was pretty insane to enjoy that moment in front of all these people, and to score for the team with the Nordies around and my dad watching, my friends watching.”

Woolson and McLaughlin finished in 12th and 16th to give the men 74 points. Dartmouth moved past the University of Utah into third place overall.

Conditions were cold and snowy for the mass start freestyle on the final day, and plenty of excitement remained for the Big Green.

The men skied a 20-kilometer race that was close until the end. When a lead group of 10 skiers broke away from the field, DeLine skied out among them. The Colorado native took a shift in the lead on the third 5-kilometer lap and held onto fifth place when the field turned through the stadium and crossed the finish line.

Ogden saved the most dominant performance of the championship for the

final race, the 15-kilometer freestyle. The Steamboat. Dartmouth skiers earned 11 Allwomen’s field stayed bunched up through American honors. They won four individual the first lap, creating some traffic on the trail. titles. The alpine men scored 166 points. A Ogden made a move at the beginning of the top-three overall finish is a benchmark for a second lap intending to clear the traffic, but successful season, Thompson Graves said. to her surprise, nobody Yet despite the had the legs to respond. honors and despite “I was definitely a little “It’s always good to the hardware, there is stressed because I didn’t end the season with a sense that the team know if I could hold that has yet to realize its pace or if they would confidence and know full potential. The Big catch up to me, and it’s that while we were Green finished 155.5 usually kind of a sketchy third, we can do better.” points behind Denver strategy to be skiing by University and 114.5 yourself, so I kind of knew behind the University that in the back of my -CAMI THOMPSON GRAVE, of Colorado. mind too,” Ogden said.

The last time Over the final nine DIRECTOR OF SKIING AND Dartmouth finished kilometers, Ogden simply HEAD COACH OF WOMEN’S third at an NCAA skied away from the Championships in NORDIC SKIING rest of the field. She Steamboat was in 2006. entered the stadium for The Big Green won a the final time without national championship a competitor in sight, the following year. hoisting a Dartmouth flag over her head as “It’s always good to end the season with she skied the final meters of what would be confidence and know that while we were third, a 48-second win. More than a minute and a we can do better,” Thompson Graves said. half back, Lauren Jortberg ’20 crossed the “We just have to make sure that things go line in eighth. right, and that’s not a bad way to approach In the end, the numbers told the story at next season.”

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Men’s 20K Freestyle

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Men’s Giant Slalom

Men’s Slalom

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Mannella,TrygstadSaari lead in Paralympics

By CAITLYN MCGOVERN The Dartmouth Staff

While Dartmouth students were on spring break, Olympic action continued as the Paralympics Games ran from March 9 through 18 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. By the end, Team USA’s 74 athletes took home 36 medals, the most of any nation competing. Two of the Team USA’s competitors were Staci Mannella ’18 and Kristina TrygstadSaari ’07.

Mannella is an alpine skier hailing from Randolph, New Jersey who was born with achromatopsia, which affects her color vision, light sensitivity and general eyesight. Today her vision stands at 20-400 and 20-600 in her left and right eyes, respectively; she wears tinted contacts and additional goggles while skiing to limit the amount of light reaching her eyes.

Mannella started skiing at a young age and began her racing career in fifth grade, skiing her way to Team USA’s development roster in 2011. Mannell’s first World Cup start came in New Zealand in 2013. She competed at the Paralympics in Sochi in 2014, placing sixth in the slalom and giant slalom. At the 2017 World Cup, Mannella took home bronze in the super combined and claimed fifth in the super-G. Mannella has a close relationship with her guide Sadie DeBaun. DeBaun began working as a guide after Danelle Umstead, a three-time visually impaired Paralympian in alpine skiing, moved in next door to her in Park City, Utah and invited DeBaun to be her guide.

“I looked it up and thought it was pretty cool and could see myself doing something like that or this, and that’s kind of how it started,” DeBaun said.

After just three years, DeBaun and Mannella described themselves as being like sisters.

“We just have a lot of fun together, so our relationship is really good, and I think that’s really important with the guide and athlete,” DeBaun said.

When skiing together, DeBaun remains close to Mannella. Both have Bluetooth headsets in their helmets for easy communication. They have been training together since last May, hitting the slopes at Mannella’s home mountain in addition to attending training camps.

“We definitely have a sister relationship, and we have kind of been travelling the world together for the past three years,” Mannella said.

At 21 and 19 years old respectively, Mannella and DeBaun are the US alpine ski team’s youngest members.

At the conclusion of the 2017 season, they stood in the top 10 rankings for all alpine disciplines in the world.

However, the road to Pyeongchang was no easy journey. A hundred days before the Games began, Mannella injured her medial collateral ligament in her left knee. Fortunately, she was able

to take two terms off from Dartmouth to prepare for this year’s competition, in contrast to when she was a full-time high school student during the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games.

“Unfortunately, I was battling a lot of injuries in the middle of the year, and so I didn’t get quite as much training as I wanted to,” she said. “But there’s definitely a lot more dedication and time put into it because I didn’t have to juggle school at the same time.”

Their hard work resulted in three top 10 finishes in the Paralympics. Mannella placed ninth in the slalom and 10th in both the giant slalom and super-G; they did not finish in the super combined.

Off of the slopes, Mannella is a member of the Dartmouth equestrian team and is studying anthropology and biology. After months of training, she will be taking time off from skiing to focus on school and is looking forward to seeing her friends again.

“There’s a different intellectual stimulation that you get going to school and taking classes as opposed to being a professional athlete, so I’m looking forward to getting back to that as well,” Mannella said.

One of her close friends, Arielle Isaacson ’18, describes Mannella as passionate and driven.

“She’s very focused on whatever she’s currently doing,” Isaacson said.

“She has reasons on why she does everything. She’s not just aimlessly driven. She very much cares about setting and achieving goals.”

Trygstad-Saari, another Dartmouth alumna, guides Mia Zutter, an 18-yearold skier with Stargardt disease, a genetic degenerative eye condition that limits her sight to outer vision.

Trygstad-Saari, who competes in the biathlon and cross country skiing, was a member of the Dartmouth Nordic ski team and earned a spot on the First Team All-East. She also received the Spirit of Skiing Award in 2006 in honor of her leadership. “[Zutter] and I consider ourselves a team, but I’m out there to support Mia and give her whatever she needs on the course,” Trygstad-Saari said in an interview with Team USA. “We try to communicate, mostly that means me reaching out to her.”

Similar to Mannella and DeBaun, Trygstad-Saari and Zutter have a tightknit relationship.

“There’s definitely a lot of trust in that relationship, especially when we’re flying down some big hills,” Zutter said in the same interview with Team USA. “[I am] grateful to work with her and we have a great connection.” .

Zutter placed eighth in the 15-kilometer free, ninth in the 7.5-kilometer classic and ninth in the 1.5-kilometer sprint classic.

Additionally, the four-member U.S. team finished last in the 4x2.5-kilometer open relay.

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018

Griffith’s Got Stats with Evan Griffith ’18

March Madness Review: Where were you when it happened?

Before this NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, 1-seeds were 132-0 against 16-seeds, those teams’ first round opponents. Only 16 of those 132 wins were by single digits, and only seven of those wins happened in the past 27 years.

Then, on March 16, 2018, the record became 135-1 when 16-seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a team from the America East Conference that previously lost to the University of Albany by 44 points, upset 1-seed University of Virginia, a team that won the Atlantic Coast Conference by four games, 7454. This was a Virginia team with the highest adjusted defensive efficiency at the time of the tournament, and yet a mid-major school put up 74

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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018

points on them, the most points the Cavaliers gave up all season. This wasn’t a close upset either, UMBC dominated. It was such a blowout that the UMBC website crashed during the game due to the traffic.

So, how did a mid-major team with a starting point guard who measures 5 feet 8 inches and weighs 140 pounds (that’s my height and weight), beat the top seed in the tournament so easily?

On a podcast posted on sports website The Ringer, the win was described as follows: UMBC kept the game close in the first half. By the end of the first half, the teams were tied at 21.

At the start of the second half, UMBC started hitting deep threepoint shots. The Retrievers (yes, the mascot is a dog) started the second half on a 17-3 run, with three of their five field goals coming from three.

Virginia started to play scared after they got down. Virginia changed their defense from packline to press up on UMBC’s three-point shooters, which allowed UMBC to drive for layups and more open threes. This could have been avoided if Virginia’s sixth-man, De’Andre Hunter, was healthy for the game, as he was pivotal during the regular season at stopping penetration.

UMBC kept scoring, so Virginia’s offense devolved to chucking up desperate threes to try to come back, which didn’t work, leading to a 20-point loss.

One third of the people in my

bracket pool had Virginia winning the entire tournament, and everyone except for two had the Cavaliers in at least the Final Four. Needless to say, we were all not happy. (For comparison, my bracket pool’s champion picks were as follows: five Virginia; three Duke; three Villanova; one Michigan State; one North Carolina; and one Texas A&M [for some reason]).

Speaking of the South Region, this was definitely the craziest region in the tournament. The South regional champion and that region’s representative in the Final Four is 11seed Loyola University Chicago, out of the Missouri Valley Conference.

This is the same conference that Wichita State University used to be a member of, and that team had some success in the tournament as a mid-major as well. Loyola made the postseason tournament for the first time since 1985, and went on to upset 6-seed University of Miami, 3-seed University of Tennessee, and 7-seed University of Nevada to reach the Elite Eight. Those three wins all came by a combined four points. This region also featured early tournament exits from two future NBA Lottery picks. 4-seed University of Arizona and 7-foot-1-inch, 250-pound freshman Deandre Ayton lost to 13-seed University of Buffalo 89-68; and 6-foot-11-inch, 225-pound freshman Mohamed Bamba of 10-seed University of Texas at Austin lost to 7-seed Nevada 87-83 in overtime. Both Nevada’s and

Buffalo’s strategies revolved around limiting the effectiveness of those two stars and both teams succeeded in doing so. This region had so many upsets: the Sweet Sixteen matchups featured a 9-seed against a 5-seed and a 7-seed against an 11-seed. 11-seed Loyola came out on top of the Elite Eight, beating 9-seed Kansas State by 16 points to advance to the team’s first Final Four since 1963, when they won the National Championship.

The West Region featured similar upsets, although not to the extent of the South Region. 1-seed Xavier University, statistically the weakest out of the 1-seeds, was upset in the Round of 32 by 9-seed Florida State University, 75-70. Florida State would go on to upset 4-seed and my Final Four pick Gonzaga University 75-60 to advance to the Elite Eight.

6-seed and popular dark horse candidate University of Houston held on to beat 11-seed San Diego State University 67-65, before losing on a buzzer beater 64-63 to 3-seed University of Michigan’s Jordan Poole, reminiscent of Trey Burke’s buzzer-beater in 2013. Michigan would then put on a clinch against 7-seed Texas A&M, who upset 2-seed and last year’s champion University of North Carolina, beating the Aggies 99-72. Michigan would then go on to beat Florida State in the Elite Eight 58-54 to represent the West Region in the Final Four, where the Wolverines will face Loyola Chicago.

The East Region was probably the chalkiest out of all four regions. The only major upset, except for 9-seed University of Alabama over 8-seed Virginia Tech University, which may not even be considered an upset, was 13-seed Marshall University over 4-seed Wichita State University. This upset was certainly predictable from a statistics standpoint. I predicted Wichita State to win this game and lose to 5-seed University of West Virginia in the Round of 32, in part because I didn’t think Marshall was good enough to overtake them.

Wichita State was an unbalanced team (ranked fourth in adjusted offense and 110th in adjusted defense at the start of the tournament), so they were ripe for an upset, but it happened sooner than I expected.

Marshall would lose to West Virginia in the next round. The Final Four representative from this region will comprise of a top seed, the winner of 1-seed Villanova University and 3-seed Texas Tech University, who upset 2-seed Purdue University 7865 after Purdue lost starting center 7-foot-2-inch, 290-pound Isaac Haas to a fractured elbow.

The Midwest Region, the de facto “region of death” because of how top-heavy it was, only featured one team that pulled off an impressive run. 11-seed Syracuse University, one of the eight First Four teams and the last team selected for the NCAA Tournament managed to win three games to reach the Sweet 16.

The Orange beat 11-seed Arizona State University 60-56 to make the

tournament, 6-seed Texas Christian University 57-52 in the Round of 64, and 3-seed Michigan State 55-53 in the Round of 32. These low-scoring games epitomized the type of basketball Syracuse played throughout the year. As a user on Reddit so eloquently put it: Syracuse basketball is like the Monstars taking their opponents’ talent but throwing it in the trash can instead of using it themselves.

Syracuse wins ugly games and it’s disappointing that Syracuse lost the game in which the Orange scored the most points in any of their games, losing to 2-seed Duke 69-65. Duke lost to 1-seed University of Kansas 8581, who will go onto the Final Four.

Kansas previously beat 16-seed and Ivy League representative University of Pennsylvania 76-60 in a game in which Penn led 21-11 at one point, 8-seed Seton Hall University 83-79, and 5-seed Clemson University 80-76.

A few words on the NCAA Tournament this year: up to this season, since 2009, the Missouri Valley Conference has sent more teams to the Final Four than the Pac-12. Let that sink in. The only team from the Pac-12 to make the Final Four was 3-seed University of Oregon in 2017. The Missouri Valley Conference has sent Wichita State in 2013 and Loyola Chicago this season.

The Pac-12 is a multi-bid league, and a mid-major conference has had more success in the post-season.

Speaking of the Pac-12, the conference had a down year, as they only sent three teams to the postseason tournament this year.

Those teams were 4-seed Arizona, and play-in teams Arizona State and UCLA. I mentioned already that Arizona lost to Buffalo and Arizona State lost to Syracuse, but UCLA also lost their play-in game to St. Bonaventure University. The Pac-12 went winless in the tournament this season and every team lost to a team from upstate New York. To go along with that record, the Pac-12 earned a revenue deficit of $1 billion. Maybe that will teach the conference to stop scheduling such easy out-ofconference games.

For my predictions for the Final Four, I am really torn. I think Michigan will beat Loyola; the Wolverines looked great throughout the tournament and will definitely be the toughest team that Loyola has faced so far, so I’m picking Michigan to go to the championship game. As for the other side of the bracket, I think the Final Four matchup will be Villanova against Duke, with Duke coming out on top. It’s difficult for a team that relies on the three-point shot as much as Villanova does to find success, and I think Duke will give Villanova their one bad game of the tournament. Duke will then beat Michigan in the championship game with their newly minted zone defense.

Then again, the championship game could be Loyola against Texas Tech and no one would be surprised.

PAGE 8

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS WEEKLY

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2018

SPORTS

TODAY’S LINEUP

BASEBALL AT RED ROLFE FIELD 3 PM

Senior Spring: Sara Lindquist ’18 excels both on and off the court

By Samantha hussey

The Dartmouth Senior Staff

After graduating a record eight seniors last year, the women’s volleyball program appeared to be in a rebuilding year for the 2017-18 season. However, co-captain Sara Lindquist’s ’18 selflessness in her court positions and leadership has been an asset to the team. Going into this season, all eyes were on the two seniors, Lindquist and Morgan Dressel ’18, as well as co-captains Zoe Leonard ’19 and Maddy Schoenberger ’20, to see how the team would respond to the transition, as the team added six first-years and one sophomore transfer to an already young returning roster.

While this season’s spectators saw new names leading the team, the most notable player that emerged as a leader was Lindquist. The senior led the team in kills, recording a career high of 185 — almost matching her 192 kills from the last three years combined. She also ranked fourth on the team for 34 blocking assists and 40 total blocks. With Lindquist’s breakout final season, the Big Green improved from its previous season record of 9-16 overall, 2-12 in conference play and an eighth place finish in the Ivy League to an overall record of 10-13, 6-8 in conference and a sixth place ranking in the League.

Lindquist attributes her final season performance to the culmination of her four year Big Green volleyball experience. Lindquist had an impressive freshman season under former coach Erin Lindsey, where she recorded 83 kills, 54 digs and 23 total blocks within the 56 sets she played. Freshman year, however, was an adjustment period, as Lindquist took time to acclimate not only to the type of play, the team, the coaches and their coaching style, but also to being at a new school. She struggled toward the end of her freshman year and throughout her sophomore year, due to recurring back issues, which led her to sit out her sophomore season.

While disappointed in not being able to contribute to her team, Lindquist said her injury allowed her to take on a larger support role and have a different angle into the team’s needs.

“Not being able to do something that you love and you know, it makes you really think about how blessed you are to have that sport when you have it momentarily taken away from you,” she said. “I think [the injury]

was not fun at the time but I wouldn’t take it back just because it refined my gratitude for the sport and the girls on the team.”

In addition to dealing with back injuries early in her career, Lindquist returned right before the team underwent a coaching change with head coach Gilad Doron, assistant coach Eyal Zimet and then-assistant Tara Hittle. Doron found the transition difficult because the coaching staff only had a short amount of time to learn everyone’s abilities and gauge what positions would suit them best. However, Doron noted that Lindquist is a “selfless” person and a flexible player because she is not solely focused on her own statistics and is willing to do anything to meet the team’s needs.

“When you look at her career as a whole, you wouldn’t see her with ‘all-time’ stats, but I think Sara will always be someone who will be a great teammate, work as hard as she can and always [put her team] first versus her own individual goals [and] that’s really hard to find these days,” Doron said. “She always has this great energy around her that you never know if it’s a good day or bad day for her. I think that’s a strength that when you’re in a team concept; a lot of times when you have positive people around you, you tend to be aspired to work harder and to stay on course versus fall into negativity and selfishness.”

Lindquist noted that the coaching staff led by Doron were incredible motivators and great people, especially when Lindquist was voted as one of three co-captains and the only senior of the three. “[The coaching staff] rallied our team in a really incredible way my junior year, and especially going into my senior year I remember my coach just being like, ‘Sara go out there, just go play, don’t think about it. You’re leading the team,’” Lindquist said. “I was trying to figure out how to play well and lead but also trying to be cognizant of motivating the team.

I just really appreciated my coaches being like, ‘Sara, go play. That’s the best way you can lead this team, by just going and playing your little heart out and having fun and letting loose.’

So I think that was really a catalyst for me my senior year.”

Schoenberger found that Lindquist’s level-headed and confident personality translated well onto the court, making her a more effective player and leader. “[Lindquist] wasn’t someone who

necessarily had to mold herself into a leader role,” Schoenberger said. “She automatically demands the respect of the room and she doesn’t try to do that.

When you start with that baseline of confidence in her fundamental being, it’s really easy to follow her example.”

Schoenberger added that Lindquist’s “statistical boom” went hand in hand with her newfound attitude that came with being one of two seniors on the team. “[Lindquist] always had a sense of purpose but I think the fact that her career was ending, she went out with this new attitude that, ‘I have nothing to lose. I’m going to give it everything I have. I’m going to work hard for my teammates,’ and that was her philosophy going into this season,” Schoenberger said.

While Lindquist has been a standout on the court this season, she was a relatively late-comer to volleyball and had instead played basketball and soccer throughout her youth.

“I think my first year of playing volleyball was seventh grade on the middle school team because people were like, ‘You’re tall, you should try this sport,’ and I was like, ‘Okay!’” Lindquist said. “I don’t think I seriously started playing until my freshman year of high school because that’s when I stopped playing basketball.”

Although she was new to the sport, Lindquist placed on her high school’s varsity team as a freshman. It was there that she learned more about the fundamental skills and nuances of volleyball.

“It helped that her teammates were so welcoming and supportive of her,” Juli and Tom Lindquist, Sara’s parents, wrote in an email. “She was able to make mistakes as she learned the game. By her senior year, she was team captain and led her team to win the first volleyball state championship in her high school’s history.”

Her experience in high school solidified her desire to go on to the collegiate level, as she realized volleyball was not something she was quite ready to say goodbye to. Starting her sophomore year of high school, Lindquist underwent recruiting and was excited by all of the opportunities volleyball provided. She was deciding between offers from Dartmouth, Harvard University, Northwestern University and a walk-on spot at Stanford University.

“All four of those [schools] were really awesome opportunities, great

COURTESY OF SARA LINDQUIST

Sara Lindquist ‘18 recorded a total of 377 kills within her Dartmouth career.

girls, great schools, but there was just something about Dartmouth I just couldn’t shake,” Lindquist said. “Honestly, the thing about Dartmouth was just the sense of community I felt immediately when I walked on campus. Everyone was just so excited about being there and you could just tell — it was electric.”

Lindquist’s parents added that the Ivy League was a better choice for her because of her interests in academics, music, sorority life and community service. Dartmouth specifically gave Lindquist a close knit community and easy access to the outdoors.

“Sara’s two older brothers were both Division I athletes and pursued their sport in the [Pacific-12 Conference],” her parents wrote.

One brother was a pitcher on the Stanford baseball team and another was a quarterback at the University of Washington. Lindquist’s parents found that athletics at these schools were very time consuming and limited Lindquist’s brothers’ abilities to pursue other interests, which was something that was important to Sara.

“While she loved her sport, she had additional interests she wanted to pursue, so the Ivy League was a perfect fit for her. She wasn’t owned by her sport, yet could still compete at a high level,” her parents added.

Lindquist has excelled not only on the court but also in the classroom as she earned, alongside nine other

Dartmouth student-athletes, the Academic All-Ivy recognition for the 2017 fall season. To qualify for a spot on the conference’s top academic team in a season, a student-athlete must make a major contribution to their team in addition to maintaining at least a 3.0 grade point average. In addition to volleyball, Lindquist, a Geography major, maintains a 3.90 GPA, as of Fall 2017. She is involved with the Decibelles, Dartmouth’s oldest all-female a cappella group; Chi Delta sorority; and a women’s volleyball bible study group she started with a close friend. Lindquist has also previously been involved with Dartmouth Christian Union and a handful of other organizations for a short period of time.

With the season over, Lindquist has enjoyed being able to more fully participate in her other activities, specifically with her a cappella group and sorority. As for the future, a lot is still up in the air.

“I’ve definitely considered the idea of continuing volleyball [postgraduation] but I think at this point I’m deciding to take a break,” Lindquist said. “It’s hard to say goodbye to a sport that I love [but right now] I’m focusing on my job search back on the West Coast.”

Lindquist hopes to go to graduate school at some point and is looking for ways to continue her music career as well.