Yale and Harvard to Meet on Friday to Decide NCAA Bid

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The last point of Saturday night's match was fitting.  

Mollie Rogers and Maddie Rudnick -- Yale's two standout seniors -- combined on match point to defeat Penn and give the Bulldogs their record-setting fifth straight Ivy League championship.  

"To win five straight titles is amazing," Yale head coach Erin Appleman said. 

The scores of the match were 25-17, 25-20 and 25-15.

Tonight's win ensured that Yale claimed a share of its eighth Ivy League title in program history and set up a showdown at Harvard on Friday night at 7 to decide who will represent the conference in the NCAAs next month.

Kelly Johnson had a match-high 15 kills, hit .438 and had 11 digs for the Bulldogs, while Maya Midzik had 12 kills at a .304 clip.  

The Bulldogs (16-7, 12-2 Ivy) started strong and ended stronger tonight.  

Up a point in the first, Yale rattled off eight of the next 10 points.  It started with a Penn error, then block assists from Jesse Ebner and Kelsey Crawford.

Ebner tied a season-high with four blocks.  The run was capped by Kaitlyn Gibbons, who had six kills.  

Penn got off to a hot start in the second and jumped out to a 12-5 lead.  Johnson reclaimed momentum for the Bulldogs.

Johnson's kill jumpstarted a furious comeback for Yale.  Gibbons followed with three straight kills.  After a Penn attack error, Midzik cut the deficit to one.  

The Quakers would cling to a one-point lead before the Bulldogs made another push.  Down 17-16, the Bulldogs tied the set with a kill from Midzik,  Then, Rogers pounded three straight kills to electrify the crowd, give Yale a 20-17 lead and force a Penn timeout. 

Yale scored the first four points of the third set and never lost control of the frame.  The Bulldogs hit .400 with 17 kills in 40 swings with only one error.

Rogers ended the match with a blast down the right side off an assist from Rudnick.  The two seniors captured the Ivy crown all four of their seasons in New Haven 

Rogers and Rudnick finished their Ivy regular season career with a 51-5 overall record.  

Report filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publicity