Sept. 15, 2007

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Yale found out how good Penn State's volleyball team is on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the Bulldogs got to experience first-hand how talented Stanford's squad is. For the second straight match, the Bulldogs (3-2) gave their all against a top-three opponent before succumbing to the No. 2 Cardinal (10-0), 30-19, 30-20, 30-16, in each team's second match of the Yale Volleyball Classic.

Stanford quickly asserted itself in game one, racing out to a 9-1 lead. The Bulldogs settled down and pulled within 14-6, but a 6-0 Stanford run put the game out of reach. Trailing 28-14, the Bulldogs rallied for four straight points before Stanford put the game away on Foluke Akinradewo's sixth kill (on six attempts). Stanford hit an outstanding .590 in game one, posting 24 kills and committing just one error in 39 attacks. Yale hit a respectable .256 (16 kills, five errors, 43 attacks).

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-1 edge in game two before Stanford fought back for the next four points to pull ahead 5-4. Kali Nelson's kill tied it at 5-5, and Yale took a 6-5 advantage on Kelly Ozurovich's service ace. The Cardinal tied it at 6-6 on Alix Klineman's kill and slowly pulled away from there. Yale was unable to pull any closer than three the rest of the game, and Akinradewo smashed another game-ending kill to cap Stanford's 30-20 win that increased the Cardinal's match lead to 2-0. Stanford made five errors in game two, but still hit .441 (20 kills, 34 attacks).

Stanford took the early lead in game three and was never threatened. The Cardinal scored the first four points of the game, and used a 10-0 run to build a 17-3 advantage. Yale fought to catch up for the remainder of the game, but Stanford's blocking was just too much for the Bulldogs. Klineman's serve on match point hit the tape and rolled over, giving Stanford a 30-16 win in game three and sealing a 3-0 match victory.

Alexis Crusey led the way for the Bulldogs with 11 kills. Ozurovich posted a match-high 12 digs and three service aces. Ally Mendenhall distributed 22 assists.

Klineman had 16 kills to lead the Cardinal. All-American Akinradewo tallied 11 kills and hit .529. Erin Waller posted eight kills, two aces and three blocks. Gabi Ailes contributed a team-leading 11 digs and nine assists. All-American Bryn Kehoe dished out 34 assists and added seven digs. As a team, the Cardinal hit .456 (57-10-103) in the match and tallied seven blocks.

The Bulldogs conclude the tournament Saturday at 5 p.m. against Delaware State. That contest will be webcast live for free via Yale All-Access on www.yalebulldogs.com, as will the Stanford-Penn State showdown for the tournament championship at 7 p.m.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity