Despite low ranking, Elis strive for Ivy title

By Jeffrey Amster

The volleyball team isn't going to let numbers get it down. The Elis will enter the three-day Ivy League Championship tournament on Fri., Nov. 12 healthy and confident that they can win the title despite being seeded fifth. The Bulldogs' first opponent will be tournament host and fourth seed Dartmouth. Although the tournament is double elimination, a victory against the Big Green is imperative, because no squad has ever risen from the bottom of the losers' bracket to capture the Ivy championship.

Despite finishing fifth in the league with a 3-4 record, the team believes it possesses tremendous potential. Much of the season has been marred by nagging injuries, but the Bulldogs are heading into this weekend at full strength. Over the past two weeks, Coach Peg Scofield has worked her squad hard in practice to regain the rhythm that was often lacking in many of the Elis' recent matches. "We've been doing a lot of team-oriented drills," rightside hitter Stephanie McMahon, TC '01, said. "We're trying to work as a cohesive unit on the court rather than as six individuals."

Yale's only previous match against Dartmouth this season was a four-set loss (2-15, 15-11, 15-7) on Fri., Oct. 30, but the team has shown significant improvements since the defeat. "We're digging better and playing better in transition," setter Aileen Daly, SY '01, said. "I think our ability to dig will be the key to [winning] the tournament." The Elis' improved defense was evident in their recent match against Manhattan College, during which they amassed an impressive 104 digs. In addition to their drastically improved defense, the team has "been making harder, smoother blocks and playing more consistently," according to outside hitter Lesley Coben, BK '00. All in all, the Elis will travel up to Hanover a very different team from the one that returned home two weeks ago with a loss.

Yale can expect an exhausting match against Dartmouth's tenacious defense. The Big Green averages 19.74 digs per game, the second best average in the Ivy League. "We're going to need to keep up with their defense," Coben said. "They're small, but they dig very well. Their outside is also very strong."

If the Bulldogs can pull off a victory, they will face the winner of the match between top-seed Princeton and eighth-seed Cornell. Yale dropped its match to the Tigers in three sets (15-6, 15-12, 15-8) in its first league match of the season. Nevertheless, "we've come leaps and bounds since we played Princeton," Coben said. Princeton and Brown are the favorites going into the tournament, so if the Bulldogs can pull off a second-round victory against the Tigers, they will be in an excellent position to steal the title from Brown. However, defeating Brown will be a formidable task, because the Bears return talented outside hitter Kathryn Rice '00, who suffered an ankle injury on Fri., Oct. 8. Rice, when combined with Tomo Nakanishi '00, one of the top players in the Ivies and the 1998 tournament Most Valuable Player, poses a tremendous offensive threat. Brown narrowly defeated Yale without Rice on Fri., Oct. 22 (15-13, 20-18, 17-15), so the Elis must hope their newfound cohesiveness will overcome the Bears' impressive individual talent. "At times our defense has hurt us and our block picked us up, but we need to put it all together this weekend," Scofield said.

One of the greatest challenges the team will face this weekend is the sheer number of games it will take to win the championship. "We have to take it one game at a time because it's double elimination and there are a lot of games," McMahon said. "We have to maintain our level of intensity." Daly added, "We need to play hard, with enthusiasm, and go after every ball." To capture the Ivy crown, the Elis will have to defeat several teams they lost to during the regular season. However, Scofield feels that her players "have the potential to play big-time volleyball anytime they want to."

As the last tournament of the season, the upcoming showdown at Dartmouth is particularly meaningful to the seniors. "This is our last chance to prove ourselves," Coben explained. "The ultimate success would be to make it to the championship game. I've made it to Sunday three years in a row, and every time I've lost in the semis. I would love to make it to the championship game and beat all the teams we could have played better against during the regular season."

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