Sept. 29, 2007

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NEW HAVEN, Conn.--One down, 13 to go. The Yale volleyball team (7-3, 1-0 Ivy) got its Ivy League campaign started on the right foot Saturday afternoon at the John J. Lee Amphitheater, posting a 30-19, 30-28, 30-26 victory over Brown (2-9, 0-1 Ivy). The Bulldogs tallied a season-high 13 team blocks in the victory, their third straight over the Bears.

"Our blocking was excellent today," Head Coach Erin Appleman said. "It's something we've been working on in practice, and it's nice to see that practice pay off."

After a tight early-going in game one, Yale took control when the Bulldogs won a long rally to make it 12-8. The Bulldogs broke the game open thanks to a 6-0 spurt that turned an 18-15 lead into a 24-15 advantage. A 4-0 run set up game point at 29-18, and Alexis Crusey's kill capped a 30-19 win.

Yale built early leads of 3-0, 6-3 and 18-13 in game two before Brown rallied to make it interesting. Trailing 24-17, the Bears rattled off four straight points to cut Yale's lead to four, 24-20. Yale took a timeout while leading 26-23. The Bulldogs won the point following the timeout, but Brown scored the next three to make it 27-26. Yale needed three chances at game point before Crusey's kill put away the frame, 30-28.

Game three was the most competitive of the match, featuring nine ties and five lead changes. It was back-and-forth early on, as the score was tied seven times in the first 16 points. Yale finally broke open an 8-8 deadlock with a 4-0 spurt, but the Bears immediately charged back to pull within one at 14-13. The Bears tied it at 18-18, prompting a Yale timeout, before the Bulldogs pulled in front 23-19. Brown forced one final tie at 24-24, but Yale took charge from there. Kali Nelson and Laurel Johnson's block on match point capped a 30-26 game three win that gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 match victory.

Crusey paced the Yale effort with her fourth straight double-double. She tallied 12 kills and 15 digs. Julia Mailander had 11 kills, five digs, five blocks (three solo) and three service aces. Nelson added eight kills, seven digs, four blocks and three aces, while Johnson posted nine kills and six blocks. Kelly Ozurovich recorded a match-high 17 digs and Ally Mendenhall dished out 40 assists. The Bulldogs hit .142 (49 kills, 28 errors, 148 attacks) as a team in the match.

Megan Toman, Kiana Alzate and Vaughan all had eight kills for Brown. Vaughan added seven blocks. Natalie Meyers had a double-double with 27 assists and 11 digs. Ivy League digs leader Katie Lapinski had 16, as the Bears out-dug the Bulldogs 62-57. Lyndse Yess added 13 digs for the Bears. As a team, Brown hit .089 (33-22-124).

The Bulldogs hit the road for their next four matches. Yale visits first-place Dartmouth and Harvard next weekend. Dartmouth is 2-0 in the Ivy League after sweeping the season series with the Crimson. The Bulldogs have won four straight against Dartmouth and six straight over Harvard.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity