Wirth, Steinberg Both Reach Double Figures in Kills for Five-Time Defending Champs

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Bulldogs played from behind most of the night and couldn't overcome early deficits in all three sets in a loss at Harvard on Saturday night.

Yale (8-6, 3-2 Ivy) entered the weekend undefeated in league play, and now will head home a game behind in the standings through five matches.  The scores of the match were 25-18, 25-20 and 25-17.   

For the third straight match, Kelley Wirth led the Bulldogs in kills.  Wirth had 12, while Brittani Steinberg had 10 kills and 10 digs. 

Yale fell behind 5-0 in the first set, and Harvard pushed the lead to 13-7 before Maya Midzik delivered a kill and a Crimson error cut the deficit.  

In the second set, Kelly Johnson tied the set twice early with a kill and an ace.  Harvard would eventual score seven of the next nine points to take control.

The Crimson led 24-15 later in the set until Yale rattled off five straight points, including two aces from Kelsey Crawford.

Down 13-10 in the third, Wirth had two kills combined with a Harvard error to tie set.  Harvard scored the next four points and once again had Yale playing catch up.  Harvard took a 23-16 lead and Steinberg scored one last point for Yale before the Crimson closed out the match. 

Kate Swanson led Yale with 15 digs, while Crawford had 23 assists and eight digs.

Harvard hit .342 for the match and outblocked Yale by an 8-2 margin.

The Bulldogs return to New Haven with matches against Penn and Princeton next weekend.  

Report filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publicity