Comment on this article
A Historic Season for Volleyball Ends at Home
January/February 2005
by Emily Lederer '06
On December 3, more than 1,100 raucous fans crowded into Yale’s John J. Lee Amphitheater to take part in what turned out to be the finale of the best season in Yale volleyball history. That night, the underdog Yale women took on the fourth-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers in the second round of the NCAA tournament. And although the David-and-Goliath matchup did not have the biblical ending that Yale hoped for, not a player, fan, or coach left the gym that night with a look of regret.
The appearance against the Division I powerhouse was a feat in itself, as Yale’s 3–0 loss to Minnesota marked the first time in women’s volleyball history that an Ivy League team advanced beyond the first round of NCAA tournament play.
| |
“Yale making it this far this season is not just about an individual player,
a team, or even Yale.”
|
Yale head coach Erin Appleman says her team’s successes this season show the increasing competitiveness of Ivy League volleyball. “Yale making it this far this season is not just about an individual player, a team, or even Yale for that matter,” Appleman says. “This is about the Ivy League. It is a huge step for the conference, and it has really put us on the map as a growing pool of talent in the volleyball community.”
The night before the Elis' season-ending loss, 916 people witnessed what was arguably Yale’s best game of the season as they hosted the University of Albany in both teams' inaugural appearance in the tournament. The matchup of Bulldogs and Great Danes was a dogfight from the beginning. Both teams put on a defensive and offensive spectacle for the energetic crowd before Yale walked away with a 3–1 win. While no one in the gym that night was shocked by the historic victory, even some Yale players had thought, only six weeks before, that a tournament appearance was unlikely. After dropping back-to-back matches to Harvard and Dartmouth in October, halfway through conference play, the Elis had a mediocre 3–4 Ivy League record, and they would have to win the remainder of their matches to even have a shot at the Ivy title.
“It was hard when we were 3–4 in the Ivies to really push ourselves, but at the same time, we knew we were better than we were performing,” says first-team All-Ivy player Shannon Farrell '07. “I think we were the only people who believed we could accomplish what we have.”
The Bulldogs fought back to win seven straight Ivy matches, securing them a share in a four-way tie for the conference championship with Princeton, Harvard, and Cornell—Yale’s first league title since 1978. To determine who would get the NCAA
tournament berth reserved for the Ivy League champion, the four co-champions went to Union College in Schenectady, New York, for a single-elimination playoff. Yale defeated Harvard and Cornell in successive five-game nail-biters to become the first Bulldog volleyball squad to go to the NCAA.
Looking back on the season, Yale players and coaches said they were indebted to their fans for their success. The volleyball team shared an intimate relationship with its fans this season, as most home games boasted more than 200 dedicated fans. As soon as it became clear the Elis had a chance at an Ivy League title, those numbers shot up, giving the Bulldogs a formidable home-court advantage at each Yale-hosted event. The loss to Minnesota was only their second defeat at home this year.
“The fans this year were incredible,” says Jacqueline Becker '06. “We had some really close games, especially towards the end, where the energy from the stands pushed us to put a little more energy into the next point.” The fans showed their appreciation for the players with a standing ovation at the end of their loss to Minnesota.
“To finish up my time here playing at home in front of the biggest crowd of my career against a top-ten school—well, it just doesn’t get any better than that,” says captain Jana Freeman '05.
Soccer on a roller coaster
R. Ryan Hartnett '07
The women of Eli soccer had lost four of their last five games when they walked onto Chase Field in Hanover on October 10 to face Dartmouth. That Sunday afternoon, the Bulldogs were seeking their first Ivy League win. They were also looking to salvage their NCAA tournament hopes. The Ivy champion gets an automatic bid to the tournament—but, having already lost their first two Ivy games, against Princeton and Harvard, the Elis had little hope of winning the Ivy title. To earn an at-large bid, they desperately needed wins. In Hanover, they would have to do something no Yale women’s soccer squad had accomplished in a decade: beat the Big Green.
| |
The Bulldogs ran in streaks from start to finish this season.
|
After 55 minutes of even play on a muddy field, the Eli women finally found their spark. Midfielder Jessica Berggren '06 came off of the bench to score the game’s lone goal and the Bulldogs, confident once more, carried the momentum from that goal to the end of the season. They won their next six games, finishing the regular season with a program record of eight consecutive victories—good enough to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament, for only the second time in team history.
The Bulldogs ran in streaks from start to finish this season. They opened up the 2004 campaign with five straight victories, including an early upset victory over Connecticut, a 2003 NCAA finalist. That win helped them crack the national rankings for the first time. And after their fifth win, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll ranked Yale 19th in the nation.
But the Elis dropped their next four games (three of which were against teams ranked in the nation’s top 25). A week after surprising the nation at Number 19, Yale fell to Number 24. After that, they dropped out of the national standings for the remainder of the season.
Then, on that damp day in Hanover, the Elis hit their stride again. In the process, head coach Rudy Meredith achieved his 100th victory at the helm of women’s soccer. Meredith, who would finish his tenth season with a 104–61–11 career record as Bulldog coach, was pleased but understated about the milestone. “When you win a hundred games, it means you’ve been here for a long time,” he said. “Any type of record that has to do with winning is obviously good.”
The Elis longed to give Meredith victory number 105 in Princeton on November 12, when they faced the Villanova Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But the Wildcats scored less than a minute into the game and again midway through the second half. Although the Bulldogs tied the contest at one apiece at the end of the first period, they never led. Villanova controlled the ball almost exclusively in the final minutes of the game, keeping Eli captain and goalkeeper Sarah Walker '05 on her toes as the last minutes of her soccer career ticked away.
“Obviously, I was hoping we would score,” Walker says of her final moments on the field. “But in general I think it was a good end to the season and my time as a player here. We played well, and that’s all you can ask for.”
While this season has ended, the returning Elis are already eyeing greater successes in 2005.
“We can do even better next year,” Meredith says. “As a team, our goal is to win the Ivies. That’ll be our number-one priority.”  |
