YALE vs. NORTH CAROLINA
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Fri., Dec. 6 – 5:00 p.m. EST
Rec Hall
State College, Pa.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | NCAA Bracket | Match Notes | Tickets

Media Coverage:

• Connecticut mother, daughter earn spots in NCAA volleyball tournament with separate teams (CT Insider)
• Volleyball family celebrates dual NCAA journeys despite distance (WCIV)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Yale volleyball team finds itself in a familiar place at the end of November/early December – playing in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs, who are making their 10th NCAA appearance, are the Ivy League's automatic qualifier after winning both the regular season and tournament championships for the third straight year.   This year marked the 14^th regular season Ivy League title for the Bulldogs, who also won their third straight conference tournament title.

Unseeded Yale faces the No. 8 seed, North Carolina, in the first round on Friday at 5:00 p.m. at Penn State's Rec Hall. The winner advances to Saturday's second round and plays the winner of the Penn State-Delaware State match at 6:30 p.m.  The Nittany Lions are the No. 1 seed and Delaware State is unseeded.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Yale (19-5, 12-2 Ivy) punched its ticket to the NCAA's by knocking off Cornell, 3-1, and Princeton, 3-0, in the Ivy League Tournament on Nov. 22-23. The Bulldogs were the tournament's No. 2 seed and defeated No. 1 Princeton on its home court to win the tournament title.

• Yale is making its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bulldogs won first round matches in 2004 (3-1 over Albany at Lee Amphitheater) and 2008 (3-2 over Ohio). Yale owns two of the Ivy League's three NCAA Tournament victories. Penn defeated Army 3-1 in 2009.

• The Bulldogs have won six of the last seven Ivy League regular season titles.

• The Bulldogs tied a program-record with six selections to the All-Ivy teams.  Senior setter Carly Diehl, last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, was a unanimous first-team selection.  Betsy Goodenow also earned a spot on the first team.  Junior Gigi Barr and sophomore Laurece Abraham, both middle blockers, were named to the second team, while sophomore libero Arya Jue and senior outside hitter Mila Yarich were named to the honorable mention team.

• Erin Appleman, the winningest coach in school history and a three-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, has guided the Bulldogs to an unprecedented 13 Ivy titles, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, six 20+ win seasons and was the first Ivy coach to lead a team to an NCAA Tournament victory. Her overall record at Yale is a remarkable 383-136, including 239-54 in Ivy matches regular season matches. The Bulldogs finished fourth in her first season in 2003 but have been in the top three in the final Ivy standings in every season since.

• Appleman and her daughter Emma will both be competing in this year's NCAA Tournament.  Emma is a senior setter for the College of Charleston, which earned the automatic bid out of the Coastal Athletic Association.  Prior to Charleston, Emma was the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Guilford (Conn.) High School. 

• Prior to Yale, Appleman spent eight years as an assistant coach at Penn State. During her tenure, the Nittany Lions captured the NCAA Championship in 1999, reached the NCAA Final Four five times (1993-94, 1997-99) and won five Big Ten championships.
 
HISTORY LESSON
Friday marks the first meeting between Yale and North Carolina in volleyball.
 
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina enters the NCAA Tournament with a 22-7 overall record, having gone 14-6 in ACC play. The Tar Heels have not lost to an unranked opponent since falling to NC State 3-1 on Oct. 11. The Tar Heels are coached by Mike Schall, who was an assistant alongside Yale's Erin Appleman under Russ Rose on Penn State's staff when the Nittany Lions won the national title in 1999 – and current Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley was a player on that team.
 
SCOUTING PENN STATE
Penn State enters the tournament at 29-2 overall, having won six matches in a row – including a 3-1 win vs. Nebraska this past Friday that earned the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten Championship with a 19-1 mark in conference play. Yale played Penn State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season, falling 3-1, and played the Nittany Lions again earlier this year (Sept. 22), also falling 3-1. Penn State is the only school that has appeared in all 44 NCAA Tournaments.

SCOUTING DELAWARE STATE
Delaware State is 17-13 overall and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament thanks to the team's win over Howard in the MEAC Tournament Championship Nov. 24. The Hornets last made the NCAA Tournament in 2022, when they lost to Nebraska in the opening round.

YALE'S ALL-TIME NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS

2004
Yale 3, Albany 1
Minnesota 3, Yale 0

2008
Yale 3, Ohio 2
Penn State 3, Yale 0

2011
USC 3, Yale 0

2012
Bowling Green 3, Yale 2

2013
Utah 3, Yale 1

2014
Arizona 3, Yale 0

2018
Syracuse 3, Yale 0

2022
Central Florida 3, Yale 0

2023
Penn State 3, Yale 1
 
IVY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT RECAP
Yale, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 1 seed Princeton 3-0 on Nov. 23 to win the Ivy League Tournament championship match and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The scores of the match were 27-25, 25-23 and 25-20.  Betsy Goodenow, who earned All-Ivy First Team status prior to the tournament, was named tournament MVP.  Goodenow averaged 4.71 kills per set and hit .561 in the two match victories.  Carly Diehl, who averaged 10.57 assists per set and 2.57 digs, and Lauren Kellen (3.86 kills per set) were also named to the all-tournament team.  The Bulldogs defeated Cornell on Nov. 22 in four to advance to the finals.  Yale hit .328 as a team and held a 60-45 edge in kills.  Goodenow had 19 kills and hit .594 on 32 swings without an error, while Kellen had a season-high 17 kills. 

SERVING IT UP
The Bulldogs lead the Ivy League and rank 28^th in the nation in service aces per set (1.83).  Senior Cara Shultz leads the conference with a 0.47 average, and ranks 28^th in the country.  Shultz also ranks second all-time in program history with 149 career aces.  Rosie Wustrack (1995-98) is the all-time leader with 156. 

DIEHL MOVES UP IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Carly Diehl, a unanimous All-Ivy First Team selection in 2024 and last season's conference player of the year, will go down as one of the all-time great setters in Yale program history.  Diehl enters the NCAA Tournament with 3,626 career assists – second all-time in program history.  Jacqueline Becker (2002-05) is the all-time leader with 4,222.

AMONG NATION'S LEADERS
The Bulldogs enter the NCAA Tournament ranked among the national leaders in kills per set (12^th, 14.15), hitting percentage (13^th, .282) and service aces per set (28^th, 1.83).  In addition, sophomore middle blocker Laurece Abraham and senior setter Carly Diehl have consistently ranked among the national leaders.   As of Dec. 3, Abraham ranks 17^th in the country in hitting percentage (.406) and Diehl ranks 23rd in assists per set (10.58).