Oct. 27, 2007
Box Score
NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The Yale volleyball team knew that another loss to Dartmouth would've effectively ended any Ivy League championship hopes it had. Things looked bleak for the Bulldogs after Dartmouth built a 2-1 lead Saturday afternoon at the John J. Lee Amphitheater, but Yale (13-5, 7-2 Ivy) battled back to take the final two games and an important 30-28, 24-30, 23-30, 30-26, 15-13 win over the Big Green (13-7, 6-4 Ivy). The Bulldogs went the distance for the first time this season, while Dartmouth played five games for the second straight night. It was Yale's first five-game win since a 3-2 victory over Connecticut in the 2006 home opener.
"This was an ugly win, but we'll take it," Head Coach Erin Appleman said. "It was important to get the victory at home. We played hard, and it was great to have so many people come in and contribute."
The teams traded early runs to begin the match. Yale went in front 4-0 before Dartmouth came back to tie it at 4-4. The Bulldogs then went on a 5-0 spurt to build a 9-4 lead. Yale's lead eventually reached 13-8, prompting a Dartmouth timeout. The Big Green responded with a run of their own to make it 15-14. After Dartmouth tied it at 19-19, the teams were knotted again at 20-20 and 21-21. The Big Green scored the next two points to pull in front 23-21. Dartmouth's advantage reached three at 28-25 before Yale charged back for the final five points to steal the game. With the score tied 28-28, the Bulldogs made two saving digs, then took the point on a block by Kristen Wilk and Alexis Crusey. Crusey's kill on the next point sealed a 30-28 win.
Yale won the first two points of game two before Dartmouth went on a 5-0 rally to take a 5-2 lead. The Bulldogs forced a 6-6 tie, and the score was knotted seven times during the game. With the score deadlocked at 18-18, the Big Green tallied the next four points to pull in front 22-18. The lead reached six at 28-22 and Dartmouth evened the match, taking game two by a 30-24 count.
After Yale took an early 6-3 advantage in game three, Dartmouth chipped away, forcing the first tie at 11-11. With the score knotted at 16-16, the Big Green went on an 8-0 run to pull in front 23-16. Yale won the next point, but Dartmouth took the next two, forcing Appleman to call timeout. The Bulldogs used a mini-rally to reduce their deficit from 27-18 to 27-21, but Dartmouth's lead was too big and the Big Green claimed the third game by a 30-23 score.
With the Bulldogs in a must-win situation in game four, the Big Green came out and built an early 4-1 edge. After Yale forced a 5-5 tie, things got tighter, as neither side was able to take an advantage of more than a few points. The Big Green seemed to set themselves up for the victory when a 6-0 run turned a 17-15 deficit into a 21-17 advantage, but Yale wasn't ready to go down without a fight. Trailing 23-19, the Bulldogs charged back to force a 24-24 tie. A 5-0 rally eventually gave Yale a 27-24 lead. The Bulldogs made it 28-25 when Crusey's free ball found the open court on Dartmouth's side. Julia Mailander's ace gave Yale a game point, and Allison Kaptur's kill put the game away, 30-26, and sent the match into a decisive final game.
Dartmouth took the first point of the decisive game on Katie Hirsch's service ace, but Yale claimed the next four to take command. The Bulldogs led 8-4 at the side switch and had the contest all but locked up when Ally Mendenhall's kill made it 14-9. Things got a little tight from there, as the Big Green charged back to make it 14-13 and force a Yale timeout. Julia Mailander's kill on Yale's fifth match point sealed the game, 15-13, and capped the come-from-behind 3-2 match victory.
"Games four and five were a clutch gut-check," Appleman said. "Our girls dug deep and did what they needed to do in order to win."
Crusey led the Bulldogs with 25 kills and a career-high 27 digs. She added a career-high five assists. Kaptur smashed a career-high 13 kills and added six blocks. Julia Mailander posted 11 kills, nine digs, five blocks and three service aces. Kelly Ozurovich tallied a new career-high with a match-leading 33 digs. Mendenhall registered nine kills on .529 hitting. She didn't have any attack errors for the fourth straight match. Mendenhall finished one kill shy of a triple-double. She notched 55 assists and 14 digs. Kali Nelson distributed a career-high eight assists to go along with seven kills, seven digs and three blocks. As a team, the Bulldogs hit .155 (76 kills, 39 errors, 239 attempts) in the match, failing to crack .200 in any game except the fifth, where they hit .310 (13-4-29).
Four different Dartmouth players recorded a double-double. Jess Thomas had 16 kills and 17 digs as well as three aces. Sandy Barbut tallied 13 kills and 18 digs, while Megan MacGregor posted 12 kills and 18 digs. Hirsch dished out 51 assists to go along with 18 digs. Amanda Marston had 31 digs, as the Big Green out-dug the Bulldogs 108-104. Dartmouth hit .152 (62-30-210) as a team and out-blocked Yale 15-12.
It was the Bulldogs' first five-gamer since a loss to Albany on Sept. 23, 2006. Yale hadn't been pushed to five games in an Ivy League match since dropping a 3-2 decision at Brown on Nov. 16, 2005. The Bulldogs hadn't beaten a conference opponent in five since the 2004 Ivy playoff against Cornell that clinched an NCAA Tournament berth for Yale.
After playing four straight at home, the Bulldogs hit the road next weekend. Yale visits Columbia (3-17, 0-9 Ivy) Friday at 7 p.m. before heading to Cornell (6-14, 3-6 Ivy) Saturday at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs defeated both teams in New Haven earlier this season. Yale posted a 3-0 victory over the Lions and a 3-1 win over the Big Red.
Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity
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