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Box Score 2 Bulldogs Sweep Wildcats to Close Out Villanova Classic
Villanova, Pa. -- The Bulldogs hit a blistering .371 and Kelly Johnson had match-best 14 kills to lead Yale to a sweep of Villanova on Saturday night.
Johnson hit .565 in 23 attempts with seven digs and four assists as the Bulldogs captured the final match of Villanova Classic against the host.
The scores of the match were 25-19, 25-10 and 25-10.
The victory wrapped up a weekend of matches against some of the nation's best teams. The Bulldogs have already faced three ranked teams in their first six matches.
The Bulldogs held a 64-45 advantage in digs and had four in double-figures, including Rudnick (18), Kelsey Crawford (12), Rogers (11) and Tori Shepherd (10). Yale also had a solo block and 10 block assists.
"We competed at a very high level this weekend and we were able to put it all together against Villanova," Yale head coach Erin Appleman said. "Our defense was fantastic."
Rogers had 34 kills in the three matches this weekend and was named to the Villanova Classic All-Tournament team. Earlier in the day against No. 3 Penn State, Rogers had nine kills, 10 digs and hit .300 in a three set loss.
"I thought Mollie took her game to another level and emerged as a leader," Appleman said.
In the match against Villanova, Yale produced its best hitting results of the young season. Yale took control early and never let go.
Rogers followed a kill from Johnson with an ace to give the Bulldogs an 11-5 lead. The Wildcats cut the lead to 13-10 and the Bulldogs immediately responded.
Yale scored three of the next four points. Kaitlyn Gibbons and Rogers delivered kills, and Rudnick fired an ace, one of six on the night for Yale, to give Yale a 16-11 lead.
In the second set, Yale jumped out to a 13-2 lead behind four kills from Rogers and an ace from Crawford. Crawford is tied with Rogers for the team lead with five aces in the first six matches.
With the third set tied at 4, Yale scored nine of the next 10 points. The Bulldogs used another 10-2 run to put away the Wildcats with kills from Karlee Fuller, Claire Feeley, Rogers and Johnson.
Yale's impressive non-conference schedule continues next weekend with a trip to Cal-State Fullerton that includes matches against UCLA and Georgetown.
Report filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publicity
