NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Fresh off of a clean
sweep at the season-opening Yale Invitational, the Yale volleyball
team hits the road for the first time in 2009 for a pair of matches
at the American Volleyball Classic in Washington, D.C. The Bulldogs
will face the host Eagles of American University on Friday night at
7 p.m. before challenging unbeaten Virginia Tech on Saturday
morning at 11 a.m. Yale enters the weekend at 3-0.
Road Warriors
Yale went 8-4 in road matches in 2008, as well as 4-1 on neutral
courts. In the Ivy League, the Bulldogs are currently riding an
eight-match road winning streak which dates back to the final
contest of the 2007 campaign. The Bulldogs will play their next
five matches away from the John J. Lee Amphitheater before
returning to the Elm City for the Yale Classic on Sept. 25.
Last Time Out
Yale swept Georgetown, Fairfield and Colorado this past weekend to
win the 2009 Yale Invitational. Senior Cat Dailey was named the
Most Valuable Player of the tournament and was joined on the
All-Tournament Team by senior Alexis Crusey and freshman Haley
Wessels.
Scouting the Eagles (Sept. 11 – 7 p.m.)
The preseason favorite to win the Patriot League for the ninth
consecutive season, American University enters its home tournament
with a record of 1-5. Most recently, the Eagles won at Portland in
five sets to tally their first win of 2009. American boasts four
players averaging 1.50 kills or more, led by 3.39 finishers per set
from junior Angelina Waterman. All four of those players are
hitting at a clip of .271 or worse. Krysta Cicala, the
Eagles’ setter, has distributed 9.67 assists per set. The
American defense has been solid this season, as six players have
contributed 1.30 digs per set or better, including 3.18 per set
from Rebecca Heath and 2.35 from Waterman.
Bulldogs vs. Eagles
The Eagles have won both meetings between the two programs, a 2002
home sweep and a 1994 straight-set victory on a neutral court (at
William & Mary). Both meetings predate Erin Appleman’s
tenure as Yale Head Coach.
Against Common Opponents
The Eagles lost a four-set home match to Georgetown, the team that
the Bulldogs swept in New Haven to open the 2009 campaign last
weekend.
Scouting the Hokies (Sept. 12 – 11 a.m.)
Selected to finish sixth (of 12) in the Atlantic Coast Conference
Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Virginia Tech Hokies will head
to Washington, D.C. at 6-0 in the 2009 season. The Hokies, who have
not yet played a match away from their home court, most recently
defeated Arkansas to win the Virginia Tech Invitational. Virginia
Tech will play the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Friday
night before meeting the Bulldogs on Saturday morning. Senior
Taylor Parrish leads the Hokies with 3.58 kills per set, while
junior Felicia Willoughby, a preseason All-ACC honoree, heads the
middle of the squad’s rotation with 2.50 kills and 1.40
blocks per set. Erin Leaser has doled out 11.2 assists per set from
the setter position.
Bulldogs vs. Hokies
The Bulldogs won their lone encounter against Virginia Tech, a
straight-set (2-0) victory on Sept. 22, 1979. That match,
coincidentally, also took place on a neutral court in the
nation’s capital as a part of the George Washington
University Invitational.
Cat Power
Senior outside hitter Cat Dailey, the reigning Ivy League Player of
the Week, picked up where she left off in 2008 by scorching the
competition at the Bulldogs’ season-opening Yale
Invitational. The Newport Beach, Calif. native hit at a sizzling
.487 clip, notching 39 kills on 78 attempts with just one error en
route to being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Dailey, who averaged 4.88 kills per set, rounded out her weekend
with a 3.38 digs per set average, four service aces, three blocks
and three assists. Her final contest of the weekend was her best as
Dailey hit a remarkable .607, piling up a match-high 17 kills on 28
errorless swings in a convincing Yale sweep of Colorado. She also
picked up four service aces and nine digs to fall just shy of her
second double-double of the weekend. In addition to her MVP nod,
Dailey was named Ivy League Player of the Week and a CVU.com Top
Performer.
On Crusey Control
One of the most dominant players in the Ivy League for the past
three seasons, outside hitter Alexis Crusey started her senior
campaign on the right track, grabbing All-Tournament Team honors at
the Yale Invitational. Crusey, a three-time first team All-Ivy
honoree, averaged 3.62 kills and 3.00 digs per set in eight sets of
work this past weekend. The unanimous 2006 Ivy League Rookie of the
Year currently ranks eighth in Yale history with 1,062 kills and
needs 39 digs to eclipse 1,000 for her career.
Welcome to the Machine
Freshman Haley Wessels proved to be a force at the net in her
collegiate debut this weekend. Wessel earned All-Tournament Team
honors at the Yale Invitational after averaging 1.44 kills and
amassing eight blocks, including five solo stuffs, as Yale swept a
trio of opponents to win the tournament crown. The Dallas, Texas
native also earned a slot on the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll.
The Ministry of Defense
As potent as the Yale offense has been thus far in 2009, the
Bulldogs’ defense has certainly done its part in the
squad’s 3-0 start. Yale has outblocked its opponents 20-6.5,
led by eight blocks from freshman Haley Wessels and seven courtesy
of sophomore Taylor Cramm. Additionally, Georgetown, Fairfield and
Colorado combined to hit just .173 (108-52-324) in nine sets
against Yale. The Bulldogs have also allowed just four service aces
to land on their side of the net.
All Set, All Set
The Bulldogs utilized a pair of setters at this past
weekend’s Yale Invitational, junior Kate Parker and freshman
Kerry Clavadetscher. Parker, who made her first career start
against Georgetown on Friday, distributed 36 assists (9.00 per set)
in four sets of work and also tallied six kills on 10 swings.
Clavadetscher then took the reins and piled up 8.17 assists per set
over the final six sets of the tournament. The freshman also
averaged 2.33 digs per set in her first weekend of collegiate
action.
High School Heroines
PrepVolleyball.com, the Internet’s first and only website
dedicated to covering club and high school volleyball on a national
level, selected the Yale Class of 2013 as a High Honorable Mention
in its annual rankings of the nation’s top recruiting
classes, as determined by a panel of over 100 collegiate coaches.
The Yale class of 2013 consists of Anya Cekauskas, Kerry
Clavadetscher, Julia Cortopassi and Haley Wessels. Two of the four
Ivy League recruiting classes to ever receive High Honorable
Mention status have been Yale squads. The Bulldogs’ Class of
2010 (current seniors Alexis Crusey, Laurel Johnson, Julia
Mailander and Lydia Mailander) also earned the distinction in
2006.
On the Court and in the Classroom
The American Volleyball Coaches Association has announced that the
Bulldogs are among the recipients of the AVCA Team Academic Award.
The award has been presented annually since 1993 to collegiate and
high school volleyball teams that have displayed excellence in the
classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30
cumulative team grade-point average.
Trend Setters
Yale is the only Ivy League volleyball program to notch a win in
the NCAA Championships. The 2004 Bulldogs, the first Ancient Eight
squad to host an NCAA Championship match, knocked off Albany in
five sets to tally the first postseason win in conference history.
The 2008 Yale team then defeated Ohio in the University Park (Pa.)
Subregional to become the first Ivy League team to win an NCAA
Championship match away from its home court.
Beginning the Defense
The defending Ivy League Champion Bulldogs will kick off the 2009
Ancient Eight schedule on Friday, Oct. 2 against Brown. Action from
the John J. Lee Amphitheater begins at 7 p.m.
Beaten By the Best
The Bulldogs’ record-setting 2008 season ended in the NCAA
Championship Second Round at the hands of No. 1 Penn State. The
match, which was held on the Lady Lions’ home court, was the
34th consecutive sweep for the eventual national champions, who
dropped only two sets all season en route to a 38-0 finish.
2009 Schedule Notes
The 2009 schedule consists of 13 home matches and 12 road
matches…The Bulldogs’ non-conference slate includes
four opponents to whom they have never lost (Binghamton,
Quinnipiac, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech), and an opponent they have
never beaten (American)…Colorado and New Jersey Institute of
Technology are both first-time opponents for Yale…Under
Coach Appleman (2003-present), Yale has only played five of its
2009 non-conference opponents (Binghamton, Central Connecticut
State, Georgetown, Hofstra, Quinnipiac). The Bulldogs are a
combined 7-0 in those matches…Hofstra (Sept. 18) is the only
repeat opponent from the 2008 non-conference schedule…Yale
will only play two matches at the American Volleyball Classic
(American and Virginia Tech). The fourth team at the event, NJIT,
will challenge the Bulldogs the following weekend at the Seton Hall
Invitational… Last season, Yale and Brown played a
home-and-home series to open Ivy League play. This year, the series
is split as the first and last matches of the Ancient Eight
schedule…The Bulldogs will play three in-state opponents
(Central Connecticut State, Fairfield, Quinnipiac), the most Nutmeg
State foes they have challenged since 2005. Yale did not face any
Connecticut squads in 2007 or 2008.
Beach Blanket Broadcast
The Bulldogs relocated their morning practice on Friday, Aug. 28
from the friendly confines of the John J. Lee Amphitheater to
scenic Hammonasset Beach in Madison, Conn. The defending Ivy League
Champions hit the sand at Meig’s Point with the crew of the
Fox 61 Morning News as a part of the “Zip Trip”
segment, which highlights Connecticut-based attractions. Coach
Appleman and members of the Yale team fielded questions from anchor
Jeff Valin, while host Logan Byrnes took a few practice swings with
the team.
‘Til the Next Episode
After this weekend’s action, Yale heads to New Jersey for a
trio of matches at the Seton Hall Invitational. The Bulldogs
challenge Hofstra on Friday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. and square off with
the New Jersey Institute of Technology (1 p.m.) and the host
Pirates (7 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 19. The next home contest for
the defending Ivy League Champions will be on Friday, Sept. 25
against Central Connecticut State as a part of the Yale Classic.
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