HANOVER, N.H. -- After a season-best 16 kills in her last match, Kelley Wirth put up another strong hitting for the Bulldogs Friday night.  It wasn't enough in a 3-1 loss at Dartmouth. 

The freshman posted a team-high 15 kills and tied a season-best with 15 digs.  It was the fourth straight match with a double-double for Wirth.  Junior Brittani Steinberg continued her resurgence with 12 kills and 18 digs for Yale, which lost its first conference match of the season.

The scores of the match were 29-27, 25-23, 23-25 and 25-15.  The Bulldogs are now 8-5 overall.  

The margin of error was slim again on Friday night for the Bulldogs, who went deep into the first set, kept it close in the second and could not overcome an 2-0 games deficit. 

Trailing early in the third, Kelly Johnson (10 kills) started a rally with Wirth to take the momentum and keep Yale in the match.  

Jesse Ebner had five block assists and her team-leading 16th service ace, while Kate Swanson had a team-best 21 digs.  

The Bulldogs travel to Harvard tomorrow for a 5 p.m. start.  Both teams are 3-1 in conference play and its the first meeting since Yale's victory last November in a one-match playoff to take earn the Ivy League's automatic berth to the NCAAs.

Report filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publicity