The women’s volleyball team ended arguably its best season in program history Friday night in a 3-0 (17-30, 18-30, 19-30) loss to No. 4 Minnesota in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The loss ended a 10-game winning streak that brought the Elis a share of the Ivy League championship and a spot in the tournament. The match marked the first ever Ivy League appearance in a second round match of the tournament since the conference’s inception over thirty years ago.

The Bulldogs played hard throughout the match, gaining early leads in both the first and second games. But the Eli’s energy and the support of a record 1159 person crowd was not enough. Yale eventually succumbed to the power of the Golden Gophers, as Minnesota out-hit Yale 54-24 throughout the match. The Gophers had the upperhand on defense as well, recording 62 digs to the Elis 30 digs.

Outside hitter Shannon Farrell ’07 and middle blocker Renee Lopes ’06 made the biggest impact for the Bulldogs, notching eight kills and seven kills respectively. Setter Jacqueline Becker ’06 added 24 assists on the eveing.

Despite the loss, both Yale players and coaches were thrilled with the way their season turned out.

“I am very proud of my team and the girls’ efforts tonight and this season in general,” head coach Erin Appleman said. “Tonight, we attacked the ball throughout the match and battled hard up until the final points. We may not have come out on top, but we showed a lot of people that we are a very good team who should make it to the tournament every year.”