Jessie Cheung, Staff Photographer

In the fall 2023 season, three Yale varsity sports teams — volleyball, football and men’s soccer — took home Ivy League championship honors. The News previews these teams as this year’s season starts.

The volleyball team has dominated the court at home and on the road for the past few years. In 2022, they posted an Ivy League conference record of 13–1, only falling to the Princeton Tigers, and an overall record of 23–3. 

They started the 2022 season off strong in the Seminole Volleyball Invitational, Syracuse Tournament and Yale Invitational, playing teams outside of the conference for a record of 8–1. The team then focused on their Ivy League opponents in late September and quickly saw a winning trend after dominating every match for a month and a half.  

Finally, they met their match when they faced Princeton and were handed their first loss of the season. Regardless, the Bulldogs pulled through and emerged victorious as the 2022 Ivy League volleyball champions.

In 2023, they managed to top this record, going 14–0 in the conference and 21–4 overall. Although the team had a rocky start on the road battling back and forth with out-of-conference opponents, they fell into their rhythm when they faced their fellow Ivy Leaguers on the court. 

The Bulldogs never backed down and continued to dominate every single match they played, becoming the 2023 Ivy League champions.

“As a team, we are hoping to have another successful season, as we did last year,” outside hitter Jaidynn Perkins-Martin ’27 told the News. “My goals for the season are to be a team player and do whatever the team needs for me to do.”

The men’s soccer team had a spectacular, albeit slightly surprising, end to their 2023 season. Posting 11 total wins — alongside six losses and three ties — the Bulldogs fought tirelessly all season, ultimately gaining a spot in the Ivy League Tournament. Although they were ranked third, Yale ended up winning the entire tournament.

In the two games they played, facing the Harvard Pilgrims and the Brown Bears, the Elis trumped both teams effectively, garnering scores of 4–0 and 2–1 respectively. They were named the 2023 Ivy League men’s soccer champions, earning them a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in almost two decades.

The Bulldogs appeared in the tournament for the seventh time after last falling to Stony Brook in the first round in 2005. They drew Bryant University for their first game and delivered the surprise of the season. Max Rogers ’24 had possession of the ball and, after noticing all game that the Bryant goalkeeper seemed to stray significantly far from his goal, he took a chance, shooting it while still over 50 yards from the net. With 1:46 left on the clock, Rogers made the impossible possible and upped the Elis’ score by one goal to deliver a 1–0 defeat to the Bryant Bulldogs.

2024 men’s soccer captain TJ Presthus ’25 told the News that the team is avoiding complacency ahead of the new season and is maintaining “high intensity” in everything the team does.

“We certainly have goals to build on the success of last season, and being the first team in Yale men’s soccer history to win back-to-back championships would be an incredible achievement,” said Presthus. “We still have some time to make improvements, but I know we will be ready for our season opener on the 30th. I am very optimistic about this group and I can’t wait to get started with matches in the next few weeks.”

Lastly, a recent poll places the Bulldogs as the preseason favorite going into their 2024 football season. Emerging triumphant from their famous annual battle against Harvard University in 2023, Yale finished with a conference record of 5–2 and shared the Ivy League championship title with Harvard and Dartmouth. 

This season, the Bulldogs have their eyes on the prize. Having won the 2022 and 2023 Ivy titles, the Elis are looking to win three consecutive Ivy titles for the first time in over four decades. The News asked Athletics Director Vicky Chun about her thoughts and goals for the upcoming season.

“Our goal every year is to win an Ivy championship … and beat Harvard,” said Chun. “Tony Reno is a high-caliber coach that recruits and coaches for excellence on and off the field — this season will be no exception. I can’t wait to get back to the historic Yale Bowl to cheer on Team 151 and watch them work towards another Ivy title.”  

The first game of the season was played by the women’s soccer team on Aug. 25 at Hofstra University.