Bulldogs Win Ninth Straight, Maintain Top Spot in Ivy Standings

NEW HAVEN -- Kelly Johnson, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, delivered again on Saturday with a match-high 12 kills as the Bulldogs extended its win streak and swept Brown.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 12-5 overall and 8-0 in the Ivy League.  The scores of the match were 25-21, 25-21 and 25-22.  

Johnson and Kendall Polan both contributed double-doubles.  Polan dished out a match-high 23 assists with 11 digs and five kills, while Johnson added 15 assists and eight digs. 

Erica Reetz and Mollie Rogers both tallied a team-high 15 digs for Yale.  Reetz added seven kills, including three during a third-set comeback, and hit .333 for the match.  

Despite the sweep, the Bulldogs had to come from behind in the third set.  Down 17-13, Reetz started an 8-0 run with a kill.

Jesse Ebner followed on the next point with a kill, and Reetz added another.  Two Brown errors came next, and Reetz and Johnson went back-to-back with kills to give Yale a 20-17 lead. 

Brown came back to make it 22-21 after a service error then Ebner pushed Yale's lead up to 23-21 on the next point.  Yale never trailed again. 

After dropping the first two points, Yale scored 14 of the next 17 points to begin the second.  McHaney Carter gave Yale a 14-5 lead with a kill.  The Bulldogs maintained their nine-point cushion up until Rogers blasted a kill to make it 20-11.  

The Bears (5-13, 1-7 Ivy) went on a 10-3 run, capped by two straight kills from Amanda Nickels, to make it 23-21 Yale. Rogers and Polan smashed back-to-back kills to close out the set.

Yale led throughout the first half of the opening set.  Maya Midzik extended Yale's lead to 15-10 and a Brown attack error on the next point gave the Bulldogs their largest advantage of the set.  

Brown scored six of the next eight points, a rally capped by a kill from Lord, to pull the Bears within two.  After a Brown attack error, Lord smacked three straight kills to tie the set at 19.

The Bulldogs scored three consecutive points with two Brown errors and a Reetz kill.  

Yale returns to action on Friday for a home match against Columbia at 7 p.m.  

Report filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publcity