PRINCETON, N.J. — After dropping a tough
four-set battle at Penn last night, the Yale volleyball team
bounced back on Saturday afternoon with a convincing sweep of
Princeton at Dillon Gymnasium. Senior Alexis Crusey notched her
second consecutive double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs as the
Bulldogs took the match by set scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-21.
Sophomore Bridget Hearst led all players with 11 kills on 19
errorless swings.
“After last night’s defeat, it was nice to come back
and play with intensity against a tough Princeton team”, said
Yale Head Coach Erin Appleman.
With the victory, Yale improves to 17-3 overall and 7-2 in the Ivy
League. The Bulldogs have now won four consecutive matches against
the Tigers and eight straight contests after a defeat. Princeton
falls to 7-13 overall and 5-4 in Ancient Eight play.
Senior Cat Dailey added seven kills and eight digs for the
Bulldogs, and freshman Haley Wessels tallied six finishers.
Sophomore Taylor Cramm registered five kills, senior Laurel Johnson
picked up three and freshman Kerry Clavadetscher had one kill from
the setter spot. Clavadetscher dished out a match-best 35 assists,
and junior libero Kelly Ozurovich shared the team high in digs with
11.
The Bulldogs took four of the first five points to start the match,
but the Tigers responded with a four-point spurt of their own to
take an early 5-4 lead. An ace from Dailey and a pair of Princeton
attack errors keyed the next run, a five-point streak for the
Bulldogs to regain the lead at 9-5. The Bulldogs continued to roll
to a 10-point advantage at 17-7, at which point Princeton Head
Coach Jolie Ward took her first timeout of the frame. Yale was
undeterred by the stoppage, leading by as many as 14 points en
route to a 25-12 set-one win.
The Bulldogs hit the ground running once again in set two, racing
out to a 13-1 advantage, sparked by tough serving from Dailey, to
force a Princeton timeout. The Tigers came out of the stoppage
firing, chiseling the lead all the way down to five points at 17-12
and causing Appleman to burn a timeout in an attempt to quell the
home team’s momentum. Yale would run off four straight points
out of the timeout to regain a commanding 21-12 edge, and that
nine-point cushion proved to be the difference as the Bulldogs took
set two, 25-16.
After the intermission, it was Princeton who jumped out to an early
lead with a 6-2 edge in set three. The Bulldogs would battle back,
however, and the score was soon tied at 10-10. Yale would take the
lead at 12-11, and would not relinquish that advantage the rest of
the way as a 5-0 run gave the Bulldogs a more comfortable lead at
16-11. Princeton made a late charge, breaking four match-point
opportunities, but a Hearst kill ended it with Yale taking the
match with a 25-21 win.
Lydia Rudnick led the Princeton offense with 10 kills. Michaela
Venuti doled out 22 assists, and Hillary Ford had a match-high 15
digs for the Tigers.
report filed by Drew M. Kingsley, Yale Sports Publicity
