Yale Athletics

The Yale women’s volleyball team (5–4, 1–0 Ivy) defeated Brown (5–5, 0–1 Ivy) 3-1 at home on Saturday, making this the fourth season in a row when the Bulldogs have won their Ivy opener. 

“I feel really prepared to go into the rest of the season,” Betsy Goodenow ’27 wrote to the News about the win. “Everyone in the league will give us their best, and Brown showed us that last night.”

Yale jumped out to an early lead in the first set, getting ahead by as many as seven points. Although Brown was able to catch up and decrease Yale’s lead to just one point at 15-14, the Bulldogs refused to let up and regained a three-point lead late in the set. They won the first set by six points, 25-19.

The second set was a closer matchup, with 11 tie scores and three lead changes. Each time the Bulldogs would go on a run, the Bears would respond with a run of their own. After being down 16-21 late in the second set, Brown was able to tie the score at 24-24. Although the Bulldogs won the set after Brown made two errors in a row, the Bears seemed to have gained momentum.

Brown started the third set with a 4-0 run and maintained the lead until Yale caught up at 15-15. Although the Bulldogs were able to gain and maintain a lead of their own late in the set, Brown came back and took the set by two points, 25-23.

In the fourth and final set, the two teams traded runs once again. However, in the middle of the set, Yale gained a three-point lead and refused to let Brown close the gap, winning 25-22. 

In this set, the Eli defenders responded to the Bears’ purposeful attempts to hit the ball off the Yale blockers’ hands. The in-game tactical shift made by head coach Erin Appleman helped the Bulldogs reduce the number of errors that occurred while in their defensive positions. 

“The block did a good job of adjusting to Brown’s outside hitters who wanted to tool our hands on tight sets,” Goodenow wrote to the News about how they adapted to Brown’s offensive push. 

Saturday’s game had three players with double-digit kills, and two players had double-doubles, meaning they reached double digits in two statistical categories. Goodenow led the team with 19 total points on four aces, 14 kills and 15 digs. Laurece Abraham ’27 held down the front-line defense with a season-high eight blocks on top of 11 kills.  

First-year Ava Poinsett ’29 continued to be a consistent contributor to the team’s success with 15 kills and 12 digs. 

“Communication is always key,” Poinsett wrote to the News. “Having teammates who supported me by pointing out open shots helped us adjust and keep the pressure on.”

This marks the Bulldogs’ 10th win in a row against Brown in the teams’ last 10 meetings.

“It was a really good battle between the two teams,” Appleman said. “Brown is a very good team, and we had to step it up a bit to finish up the fourth set.”

Yale will continue their Ivy League campaign at the University of Pennsylvania (6–5, 0–1 Ivy) on Friday, Oct. 3, and at Princeton (6–3, 1–0 Ivy) on Saturday, Oct. 4.