Key Ivy rivals down, NCAAs straight ahead

Revenge, in itself, can be pretty sweet. But, the Yale women's volleyball team didn't just redeem itself against fierce opponents; it also secured the fourth seed in the upcoming Ivy League Championships in the process. The Bulldogs captured two key victories last weekend against visiting Ivy League rivals Harvard and Dartmouth who defeated Yale last season in conference play. With these two wins, the Elis bolstered their Ivy record to 4-3 (15-7 overall), earning a place among the top four teams in the tournament, which takes place from Fri., Nov. 10 to Sun., Nov. 12.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Yale volleyball beat Harvard and Dartmouth last week.

"It feels so great to have swept over the weekend," outside hitter Vanessa Herald, ES '02 said. "That was the first time any of us have ever beaten both teams, and it also leaves us with a certain strength going into the tournament."

With these two victories, the team now maintains a 7-1 record on its home floor at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. During the Harvard match on Fri., Oct. 27, the Yale players brought intensity and excitement onto the court in front of one of largest crowd turnouts of the season. Captain Stephanie McMahon, TC '01, and outside hitter Dana Loberg, TC '03, led the attack and finished with 13 kills apiece. However, Harvard did not back away without a fight. After winning the first game 15-11 and starting the second game strong, Yale began committing errors on the net.

"We had some lulls [in] that game so we took a time-out to refocus," McMahon said. "We needed to focus on keeping the defense and block working, which are some of our biggest strengths right now."

Once the minor adjustments went into effect on the floor, the Bulldogs defeated Harvard 15-11 in the second match. The third and final game of the match was the longest of the match as the two teams battled back and forth between side-outs. However, in the end, Yale prevailed with a 15-12 third-set victory, stemming not only from an ignited offense but also from a supportive defense. In fact, four players finished with at least 10 digs or more during the entire match. McMahon led with 14 total digs, while Loberg collected the first double-double of her career: 13 kills, 13 digs. Herald and defensive specialist Joey Lee, SY '03, added 10 and 11 digs, respectively.

According to Head Coach Peg Scofield, the team has made some significant strides in defense near the end of the season. "We've been combining and changing our rotations," she said. "The players are working really well together. They're not just playing good defense, they're seeing the ball and making something else happen from that."

Yale entered its match against Dartmouth on Sat., Oct. 28, feeling more relaxed and confident after posting previous night's victory over Harvard. During game one, the Bulldogs' offense scorched the net, finishing with 21 total team kills in the 15-10 win. From that point on, the players combined an aggressive offense with a tough defense to win in three games (15-10, 15-8, 15-3). Setter Aileen Daly, SY '01, finished with 32 assists, consistently connecting with middle blocker Carissa Abbott, SM '02, who tallied 11 kills in only 18 attempts. Loberg accumulated 11 kills and 11 digs in the match, acquiring the second double-double of her career. She also made the Ivy League Honor Roll this week because of her consistent effort on offense and defense throughout the weekend.

Volleyball

Record: 15-7, 4-3 Ivy Recent Results: Won against Harvard on Fri., Oct. 27; won against Dartmouth on Sat., Oct. 28. Coming Up: Stony Brook on Fri., Nov. 3.

Daly claimed that the team has been focusing lately on offense in practices by mixing up various line-ups to see what rotations work best. "We have moved around the lineup to put some of our best hitters in position together," she said. "We try to work and mix everyone together so that we can run the best possible set against the defense."

Next on the Elis' schedule is the final home game of the season against Stony Brook on Fri., Nov. 3. Yale travels to play Quinnipiac on Tues., Nov. 7, a team that the Bulldogs defeated earlier in the season 15-11, 15-6, 15-6. The team strives to fine-tune its game in the next two matches in order to prepare for the upcoming Ivy League Championships only a week away. As the fourth seed, Yale will be battling fifth-seed Dartmouth in the first round of the single-elimination tournament, which grants the overall winner an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Despite already beating Dartmouth, the players realize that though no drastic changes need to be made to their game strategy, they still need to concentrate on strengthening overall team play.

"Whey they play together, they're unstoppable," Scofield said. "We have stars on the team, but when everyone is supporting each other, that is our winning combination." Overall, the team possesses an optimistic, if not excited, outlook towards the end of the season and the approaching tournament. "We're playing differently than we did at the beginning of the season," McMahon said. "Some of the Ivy teams we played earlier have not seen the level that we are at right now."

Herald added, "There is a really good feeling on the team. We have a confidence that we haven't had before, and we are playing like a really solid team."

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