Crimson Falls to Bulldogs in Straight Sets

The winning streak ended on Saturday night for the Harvard women’s volleyball team (9-6, 2-3 Ivy), who fell to the undefeated Yale Bulldogs (11-4, 5-0) in straight sets. The Crimson was coming off of a win against Brown on Friday night, but was not able to muster an offensive attack to challenge Yale, who posted a .306 hitting percentage on the night. Harvard fell by a score of 17-25, 21-25, 20-25.

Yale took control of the match beginning with the opening set, posting an early 11-6 lead in the frame. The Crimson fought back to come within two, at 17-15, but couldn’t overtake the Bulldogs, who pulled out a 25-17 game win.

The second set was much of the same between the two opponents, with Yale earning and keeping the lead from whistle to whistle. Despite the consistency of the Bulldogs' play, Harvard again got within two, but Yale never gave the the Crimson the chance to finish the comeback, recording two kills and a block for the win.

The Bulldogs dominated the third and final set, leading by as much as six to take the game 25-20 and blank the visiting Crimson. Yale’s Mollie Rogers’ led all players with 14 kills in the win. Junior Taylor Docter let Harvard with 12 kills and a .324 hitting percentage, while Natalie Doyle posted her fourth consecutive double-double with 33 assists and 10 digs. Co-captain Christine Wu recorded a game-high 18 digs in the loss.

“Yale is obviously a good team and it was difficult for us to respond to their level of play,” Wu said. “We lost in three [games], but we saw a lot of good things that we can capitalize on ... next time.”

-Check thecrimson.com for updates.