NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Bulldogs won their 16th straight match and clinched a spot in the Ivy League Volleyball tournament with a 3-0 win over Columbia on Saturday evening at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.
The tournament will be held the weekend of Nov. 18-20 at the site of the top seed. With tonight's victory, the Bulldogs maintained the top spot in the Ivy League standings and improved to 18-1 overall and a 10-0 mark in league play.
The scores of tonight match were 25-10, 25-20 and 25-18.
"I thought we played really well tonight," Yale head coach Erin Appleman said. "We came out strong in the first set and played at a high level."
Mila Yarich had a match-high 12 kills and added nine digs to lead the Bulldogs tonight. Yarich provided a kill and back-to-back aces to give Yale an early 5-2 lead in the first, and the Bulldogs never looked back.
Cara Shultz had match-highs in digs (14) and service aces (3). Shultz also added five kills.
In the second set, Audrey Leak tied the match at 18-18, and on the next play Gigi Barr and Carly Diehl combined on a block to give Yale the lead and start a 6-1 run to close out the frame.
Yale used a quick-hitting 4-0 run the final set thanks to kills from Diehl and Yarich, an ace from Shultz and a solo block from Barr. Maile Somera (nine digs) closed out the match with her second service ace of the night.
The Bulldogs return to action next weekend with matches at Penn and Princeton.
