Oct. 13, 2007

Box Score

PRINCETON, N.J.--Yale did everything it needed to do to beat Princeton. The Tigers, however, won the big points and notched a 35-33, 26-30, 34-32, 31-29 victory Friday night at Dillon Gym. Princeton (12-3, 4-0 Ivy) posted its third straight win over Yale (8-5, 2-2 Ivy) and remained tied for first place in the Ivy League. The Bulldogs fell for the third time in five matches.

"I was happy with the way we competed," Head Coach Erin Appleman said. "We fought hard, but we just didn't execute in certain situations. If a couple points had turned out differently, this would've been a different match."

Game one featured 13 ties and five lead changes. Yale took a timeout while trailing 21-18, but fought back to force a 23-23 tie. The Bulldogs took a 24-23 lead, their first since it was 2-1, on Kali Nelson's service ace, but the Tigers tied it at 24-24. The squads traded the next 18 points, as Yale fought off three game points and Princeton saved two. Lindsey Ensign's kill gave Princeton a 34-33 lead, and Ensign combined with Bailey Robinson on a block that sealed game one, 35-33, and gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the match.

Yale charged back in game two. Princeton built a 10-7 lead before the Bulldogs went on a 6-3 run to force a 13-13 deadlock. The Bulldogs took control with a 9-3 spurt that turned a 14-14 score into a 23-17 Yale advantage. Princeton pulled no closer than four the rest of the way and Yale evened the match at 1-1 with a 30-26 game two win.

Game three went almost exactly the same way as game one. There were 12 ties and three lead changes, and again the game went into extra points. Yale built a 15-11 lead, but Princeton rallied for the next four points to force a 15-15 tie. The Tigers eventually built a 22-18 advantage, prompting a Yale timeout. Princeton earned a game point when Lydia Mailander's service error made it 29-27, but the Bulldogs came back and forced a 29-29 tie. Yale fought off three more game points at 30-29, 31-30 and 32-31, but an Ensign kill and a block by Ensign and Sheena Donohue put away Princeton's 34-32 win that gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead in the match.

Once again, the teams played an extremely competitive game four. Yale broke open a 7-7 tie with an 11-5 run that made it 18-12. It looked like the match would go to five as the Bulldogs held onto a 24-20 advantage. Princeton, however, fought back to tie it at 26-26 before Yale went back in front on a kill by Alexis Crusey. Princeton won three points to set up match point at 29-27. Yale struck back to force a 29-29 tie, but back-to-back Ensign kills wrapped up the game, 31-29 and sealed a 3-1 match victory for the Tigers. Princeton won 126 total points in the four games while Yale won 124.

Crusey had her first 20-20 double-double of the season, posting 23 kills and a career-high 25 digs. Nicole Perkins added 13 kills and a career-high seven blocks. Kristen Wilk posted 10 kills on .348 hitting, while Laurel Johnson and Nelson each notched eight kills. Nelson also tallied a career-high four aces. Kelly Ozurovich returned 21 digs. Ally Mendenhall registered 56 assists and 12 digs. As a team, the Bulldogs hit .153 (64 kills, 33 errors, 203 attempts) in the match.

Yale's defense held Ensign, the fourth-leading hitter in the nation, to .279 hitting. She lead the Tigers with 22 kills and added five blocks. Ensign, Donohue and Parker Henritze combined for 62 of Princeton's 77 kills. Donohue and Henritze each posted 20 kills, and Henritze added 20 digs. Jenny McReynolds tallied a match-high 29 digs, as the Tigers out-dug the Bulldogs 91-86. Bailey Robinson, the Ivy League leader in assists, had 65. Princeton hit .186 (77-36-221) as a team.

Yale concludes its four-match road trip Saturday afternoon at Penn. The Quakers (9-6, 3-1 Ivy) defeated Brown 3-0 on Friday night. Yale has won six straight matches against Penn.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity