Sept. 8, 2007

Box Score

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The Yale volleyball team dominated the final two games in its match against Rhode Island to open the Yale Invitational on Friday night. The Bulldogs (2-0) kept on rolling Saturday morning, cruising to a 30-9, 30-24, 30-14 victory over Sacred Heart (0-6) at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Rhode Island beat Maine, 3-0, in the day's second match.

The Bulldogs were never challenged in game one. After a Nicole Perkins kill broke a 4-4 tie, Yale scored 15 straight points to pull in front 19-4. Kelly Ozurovich had five service aces during the run, including a span of three in a row. Sacred Heart finally broke serve on Courtney Kidd-Kadlubek's kill, but Yale replied with runs of 5-0 and 3-0 to close out the game, 30-9. Yale hit an impressive .424 (17 kills, 3 errors, 33 attacks) in the game, while Sacred Heart hit -.061 (4-6-33).

The Pioneers took an early 3-1 lead in game two, and kept it competitive throughout. With the score tied at 21-21, the eighth tie of the game, back-to-back hitting errors by Sacred Heart's Mydori Saipale gave the Bulldogs a 23-21 edge. Yale ended the game on a 7-3 spurt to clinch a 30-24 win in the game.

With game three knotted at 6-6, the Bulldogs put together another long string of points on Ozurovich's serve, opening up a 12-6 cushion. Four Alexis Crusey kills, including three in a row, punctuated the rally. That run began a string where Yale scored 20 of the next 25 points to take a 26-11 advantage. Yale scored the final three points of the match to seal a 30-14 win in game three and a 3-0 match win.

"This was a good team win," head coach Erin Appleman said. "It was nice to get contributions from so many different people."

Eleven Bulldogs tallied at least one kill, led Crusey's 10. Courtney Hall and Laurel Johnson each had seven kills, and Johnson hit .778 (7-0-9). Hall and Taylor Morgan each had 10 digs and Ozurovich added nine, as Yale out-dug Sacred Heart 61-45. Ally Mendenhall had 38 assists and seven digs.

Yale hit .345 in the match, smashing 50 kills and committing just 12 errors in 110 swings. The Bulldogs, who had 12 aces as a team on Friday, continued their impressive serving with 10 aces in the match.

Saipale led the Pioneers with nine kills. Christine Duffy tallied 11 digs and Sarah Joy added 10. Kidd-Kadlubek dished out 20 assists. Sacred Heart hit just .026 (24-21-115) as a team in the match.

The Bulldogs host Maine on Saturday night at 7 p.m. to conclude the tournament. A free live video stream will be available on www.yalebulldogs.com with WYBC providing commentary.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity