Nov. 6, 2004
New Haven, Conn. - The Yale volleyball team notched its second straight sweep and its fourth straight win, defeating first-place Harvard 3-0 (30-25, 30-23, 30-23) in front of a raucous senior-day crowd at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
Four players registered double-digit kills for Yale (12-7, 7-4 Ivy), including Jana Freeman, who led the Bulldogs with 15. She and fellow senior Lauren Burke were honored before the match for their contributions to the program over the last four years.
With the win, Yale is tied for third in the Ivy League with Princeton at 7-4, a game and a half behind Harvard (15-7, 9-3) and Cornell. The Big Red, which entered the weekend tied with Harvard but lost to Penn on Friday, defeated Princeton in four games Saturday. Yale travels to Ithaca, N.Y., on Friday to face Cornell.
Sophomore Shannon Farrell posted a double-double of 11 kills and 12 digs, and classmate Anja Perlebach led the Bulldogs with 16 digs. Junior Jacqueline Becker registered 42 assists. Kali Nelson and Renee Lopes recorded 11 kills apiece, with Nelson hitting a career-best .474 and Lopes hitting .455.
"We had incredible passing tonight," said assistant coach Kevin Laseau. "Ball control is the No. 1 ingredient to success, and when we do it right--like tonight--we're hard to beat."
Kaego Ogbechie led all players with 16 kills for Harvard. Sarah Cebron's 12 digs led three Crimson players in double figures.
The match was hard-fought from the get-go, and the crowd was noisy throughout. The play in the first game did not disappoint. Harvard led 23-22 before Yale ran off four straight points, two on kills by Freeman, to take control.
Yale took the first four points of Game 2 and later went on a 6-0 run to push the score to 16-6. The Crimson never cut the margin to less than five after that. The Bulldogs hit .293 in the game, and Becker had 16 assists.
In the third game, Yale went on a 9-1 run to take the score from 20-19 to 29-21. Harvard then took two straight points, but Nelson ended the match with her 11th kill. She had four kills in five swings for an .800 percentage in Game 3.
report by Casey Hart, Yale Sports Publicity
