WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Bulldogs closed out the Black Knight Invitational with their first win of the season – a road victory against host Army – on Sunday afternoon.  The scores of the match were 29-27, 25-16, 19-25 and 25-14. 

Mila Yarich led the way with a match-high 17 kills and 19 digs, and Yale held the Black Knights to a .136 hitting percentage.  Carly Diehl was named to the all-tournament team.

"We made a lot of progress this weekend and are continuing to get better," Yale head coach Erin Appleman said.  "And we showed that progress against high-level competition this weekend." 

Set Breakdown:

Set 1
In a set that went extras, Yarich had seven kills and eight digs.  Yale received clutch points late in the set from Betsy Goodenow, Yarich and Gigi Barr to extend the set.  Bonnie Bostic put the Bulldogs at set point, and Fatima Samb and Diehl collected the last point on block assists.  

Set 2
Yale held Army to a .121 hitting percentage in the set.  With a 7-4 Yale lead, Bostic started a 10-3 run with a kill, followed by a kill from Cara Shultz and blocks from Samb and Diehl.  Samb and Yarich went back to back with kills to give the Bulldogs their largest lead of the set at 19-8.

Set 3
Goodenow gave Yale an early 6-5 lead, and Army responded to lead throughout most the set.  Yarich had consecutive kills to close the gap to 21-19, and the Black Knights went on to score the final four points.

Set 4
Barr and Diehl tied the set at 4-4 with block assists, and Yale took control from there and scored the next three points.  The Bulldogs never trailed again. Yale used a 9-3 run midway through the set capped by a block from Barr and a kill from Leak.

Notes:

• Diehl had 36 assists today and finished with 101 for the weekend, and also averaged over one kill and one dig per set, along with six total service aces.
• Yarich finished with 38 kills and 37 digs in the three matches this weekend.
• Yale had six student-athletes with at least 14 kills on the weekend – Yarich (38),  Goodenow (27), Leak (26), Barr (25), Diehl (15) and Bostic (14). 
• Samb finished with six block assists and one solo today.
• First-year Arya Jue finished with nine digs in the match.

Up Next:

The Bulldogs will host the Yale Invitational next weekend beginning on Friday.  Yale will play Sacred Heart, Rhode Island and UConn.