Two Teams Play Again Saturday Night in New Haven

The trio of McHaney Carter, Erica Reetz, Haley Wessels hit .400 or higher, while Bridget Hearst led a balanced Yale attack with a team-high 10 kills to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-18) victory over Brown in the conference opener for both teams on Friday night in Providence.  The two teams will play again in New Haven on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Five players posted at least seven kills for the Bulldogs, who hit .233 as a team for the match and .386 in the final game.  Yale improved to 7-5 overall, while Brown dropped to 6-7.

Wessels had nine kills and hit .400, Carter slammed seven kills and hit .429, and Reetz hit .538 with seven kills. 

The Bulldogs fell behind 8-3 in the first set, but battled to tie the game at 16.  Hearst sparked a rally with a kill to give the Bulldogs a 19-17 lead and propel Yale to win the game.

"It was our first conference match of the season and we came out fired up," Yale head coach Erin Apppleman said.  "But, we eventually settled down and played our game."

In the second set, Yale outlasted the Bears, who pushed the set into into extra points.   After the Bears tied the game at 24, the Bulldogs scored the next two points.

The Bulldogs scored nine of the first 12 points of the third set and finished 17 kills in the final game. 

Polan, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, tallied a team-best 17 digs, 23 assists and one block assist.  Cordell added 14 digs, while Kelly Ozurovich chipped in 13.

Kerry Clavadetscher had 14 assists for the Bulldogs, who also benefited from impressive passing in the back row from Gina Finke.

Megan Toman had eight kills and six digs for Brown, which hit .116 for the match.