Bulldogs Earn Fourth Straight NCAA Appearance

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Bulldogs are going dancing.  Again. 

Yale defeated Harvard on Friday night in a thrilling sweep to earn the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.   The Bulldogs responded to a raucous, sold-out Malkin Athletic Center crowd that included many Yale fans with its best performance of the season.

The Bulldogs (17-7, 12-2 Ivy) won their fifth straight Ivy League title and earned a spot in the one-match playoff after tying with Harvard at the end of the regular season.

"Tonight's win was everything that you could ask for from your team," Yale head coach Erin Appleman said. "We played together, and we played hard in a great volleyball enviornment."

Appleman has now guided Yale to six NCAA Tournament appearances - including the last four seasons.

The scores of the match were 25-21, 25-22 and 25-21. 

Mollie Rogers, who was named Ivy League Player of the Year last Tuesday, played like the conference's top player.  Rogers delievered time after time in big spots throughout the match.  

Rogers had a match-high 19 kills, including 10 in the final set with a .409 hitting percentage.

Others stepped up for the Bulldogs.  Maya Midzik exploded in the first set with seven kills and hit .700 without an error.   

Yale led almost the entire first set.  Harvard finally broke through to tie the set at 18, only Rogers sieze control back with a kill.  After a Harvard error, Kelly Johnson took advantage of a freeball to give Yale a 21-18 edge - and the lead for the rest of the set.

In a fitting end to the first set, Midzik went for back-to-back kills to give Yale a 24-20 lead. Midzik finished with 12 kills and hit .500 for the match. 

In the second set, it was Kelly Johnson who went for seven kills and a .429 percentage.  Johnson finished with 13 kills anda team-high 13 digs.

It was Midzik that opened the second with a kill - her eighth in 11 swings - to get Yale off to a fast start. The Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-6 lead - thanks to Karlee Fuller's effort off the bench.

Fuller had two kills, two digs and a block assist in the set. Fuller blasted a bullet for a kill and on the next point, teamed with Midzik for a block to give Yale a 9-5 lead.  Yale had four total team blocks in the set.

Havard stormed back to tie the set at 13 - and eventually took an 18-15 lead.  Then Johnson responded and jumpstarted a comeback.  It started with a kill.  On the next point, Maddie Rudnick kept a point alive with a one-handed dig that led to another Yale point.  Johnson tied the set on the next rally with a cross-court attack that sliced the Harvard defense.

Jesse Ebner, who had seven digs, came through with a kill at a key point to give Yale the lead and force a Harvard timeout.  Rogers delivered Yale's only ace of the night to increase the Bulldogs' lead to 20-18.  The teams would trade the next seven points until Midzik came off a curl and slammed the ball into the Harvard side to get Yale to set point.  

Rogers ended the set after Rudnick came up with a dig.  She would be a bigger factor in the final set.

The Yale captain took over the final set, scoring five of the last seven points for the Bulldogs. 

With the final set tied at 17, Harvard gave up a service error.  Rogers scored the next two points off kills followed by a Harvard error to increase Yale's lead to 21-17.  

After two straight Crimson points, Rogers went for three straight kills to bring the Bulldogs to match point.  Johnson would finish off the match.

The Bulldogs will learn their NCAA opponent on Nov. 30 during the NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament Selection Show at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPNU.

Filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publicity