Though the loss to Penn significantly lowered the Bulldogs’ chances of repeating as Ivy League champions, the Yale volleyball team (17–3, 7–2 Ivy) will set out to finish the regular season strong on the road against Harvard (10–11, 6–4) and Dartmouth (9–11, 5–5) this weekend.
The Bulldogs will travel to Harvard on Friday for a rematch of the heated rivalry. The Elis swept the Crimson on Oct. 24 at the John J. Lee Amphitheater by set scores of 25–23, 25–18, and 25–21. However, Harvard is coming off of an impressive sweep of Cornell on Saturday.
The Bulldogs then head on to New Hampshire on Saturday to play Dartmouth. The Elis crushed the Big Green at the John J. Lee Amphitheater by set scores of 25–12, 25–15, and 25–14. Nevertheless, Dartmouth stepped up and defeated Columbia in four sets in its last match.
On paper, the Bulldogs will be favorites in the remainder of their matches, including those of this weekend, as they hope to end their season on a six-game winning streak. The Elis still have a slim shot of sharing a piece of the Ivy League Championship in the unlikely event that the Penn Quakers lose two of their final five games. Penn has gone undefeated so far through Ivy League play, including two wins over Yale.
Despite not being in first place, the 2009 Yale volleyball has been led by some of the most accomplished seniors in the Ivy League. Outside hitter Cat Dailey ’10 has recently been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team, which recognizes prominent athletes with cumulative grade point averages of at least 3.30. Dailey holds a 3.41 GPA as a history major and currently leads the Ivy League with 4.12 kills per set.
Additionally, outside hitter Alexis Crusey ’10, one of the most dominant players in the Ivy League the past three seasons, currently ranks fourth in Yale history with 1,223 kills and ninth in digs with 1,142. Her performance this past weekend earned her a spot on the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll.
As the season winds to a close, the Bulldogs are hungry to unite as a team and finish strong.
“Now we’re not likely to win the Ivy League but we’re playing for us now,” libero Kelly Ozurovich ’11 said.