Bulldogs Finish Season with 18-8 Overall Record 

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TUCSON, Ariz. -- After five straight Ivy titles, the Bulldogs have become accustomed to playing in December.  

And despite a 3-0 loss in the NCAA Tournament to the No. 11-overall seed Arizona on its home court, Yale showed plenty of fight and proved it could compete with the No. 14-ranked team in the country. 

The scores of the match were 25-12, 25-17 and 25-19.  

The Bulldogs finished their season with a record-setting fifth straight conference title, an 18-8 overall record and a 12-2 Ivy mark. 

Playing before an announced crowd of 2,001, Yale went down swinging and put together an impressive stretch in the third.  Yale jumped out to a 6-3 lead and forced an Arizona timeout.  

Senior captain Mollie Rogers started the set with a kill. Then, fellow first-team All-Ivy selection Kelly Johnson followed up with another to make it 2-1. Johnson finished with seven kills and eight digs.

Freshman Megan Rasmussen gave the lead back to the Bulldogs at 3-2 with another kill.

With the score tied at three, the Bulldogs rattled off three straight points bookended by a Rogers kill and an ace from sophomore Tori Shepherd. 

"I couldn't be more proud of our team," Yale head coach Erin Appleman said.  "We played at a really high level tonight against a really good team that I think is going to go far in this tournament."

Arizona (24-9) rattled off the next two points.  The points were a block from Rachel Rhoades and kill from Madi Kingdon, who entered tonight's match ranked second in Arizona history in both kills and digs.  Kingdon had 18 kills, 14 digs and hit .410 tonight. 

An Arizona error and another Rogers kill gave Yale an 8-5 lead.  The Wildcats would eventually take its first lead of the set at 10-9 off a point from Taylor Arizobal.  

Yale trailed 18-14, before Arizona scored two straight.  The teams would trade the next eight points to put the Wildcats at match point - 24-18.

Midzik teamed up with Johnson to quiet the crowd.  

With Arizona fans on their feet and chanting, the juniors stuffed an attack attempt to cut the deficit to 24-19.  

In the second set, Yale kept it close early.  Back-to-back kills by Rasmussen and Crawford trimmed the deficit to 8-5 before the Wildcats scored the next four. 

Yale fell behind 21-11, but scored five straight.  The run was capped by Maya Midzik's kill to make it 21-16. Midzik finished with five kills and two block assists. 

Tonight's match marked the last in the storied Yale careers of seniors Rogers and Maddie Rudnick - both San Diego area natives.  In a befitting end to their respective careers, Rogers led the team with 10 kills, while Rudnick paced the Bulldogs with 14 digs.

"I'm just so proud of Maddie and Mollie for all that they have accomplished," Appleman said. "They played with their hearts and it showed."

The match also show a glimpse of the future for Yale.  Several younger players had positive moments.

Freshman Kelsey Crawford, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, finished with 27 assists on 32 Yale kills. 

"Kelsey set a great match tonight," Appleman said. 

Rasmussen doubled her season total of kills with four tonight.  Claire Feeley, a sophomore, played two sets and picked up a kill.  

Arizona took a quick 9-1 lead to start the match.  Yale fought back, scoring seven of the next 10 points.  

Bulldog Bites

• Senior Maddie Rudnick moved into 10th all-time in Ivy League history and finished her career with 1,559 digs. She ranks second all-time at Yale behind Kelly Ozurovich (2007-10).  
• Former Yale captain and three-time Ivy League Player of the Year Kendall Polan '14 was in attendance tonight.  She currently plays sand volleyball at Arizona. 
• Jesse Ebner came on strong in the third set with three kills on three swings.
• Megan Rasmussen notched a season-high four kills tonight.  Her previous best was three against then-ranked No. 3 Penn State.
• Eight different Bulldogs had at least one kill tonight. 
• Tonight marked the third time in four years that Yale has played a Pac-12 team in the NCAA Tournament.

 Report filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publicity