Women's Volleyball Weekly Release - Week 12

Top: Dartmouth's Annie Villanueva and Princeton's Lydia Rudnick. Bottom: Penn's Emma White and Yale's Mollie Rogers

Updated Stats (PDF)

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Yale now has to play the waiting game after clinching its second-straight Ivy title and third in four years over the weekend.

The Bulldogs now await their postseason destination to be unveiled on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU with the announcement of the 64-team field of the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

Yale will be making its first postseason appearance since 2008 when the Bulldogs advanced to the second round. This will be the Bulldogs' third-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Yale owns two of the Ivy League's three tournament wins all-time (2004 first-round win over Albany and 2008 first-round win over Ohio).

CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Dartmouth senior middle blocker Annie Villanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif.) ended her volleyball career with a strong showing in victories over Brown and Yale this past weekend.

In giving Yale only its second loss in Ivy League play, Villanueva totaled 15 kills, while hitting .480. The night before against Brown, she hit .389 with eight kills, four digs and two block assists.

For the weekend, she totaled 23 kills and had a hitting percentage of .442. She finished the season with the best hitting percentage in the Ivy League at .372, which is also a Dartmouth single-season record. She set the Big Green career hitting percentage record as well at .290.

Princeton junior outside hitter Lydia Rudnick (Encinitas, Calif.) helped the Tigers to a pair of Ivy League victories with one of her best weekends, as she averaged five kills per set while making only five total errors throughout the weekend.

Rudnick hit .361 over the two matches, putting up back-to-back double-doubles (13 kills and 13 digs vs. Cornell, 27 kills and 17 digs vs. Columbia). She added seven total blocks and an assist on the weekend. With her performance, Rudnick clinched both the kills title and the points title in both all matches and Ivy League matches only.

CO-ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Penn freshman outside hitter Emma White (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) put an exclamation point on her fantastic first season leading the Quakers to a home sweep of Columbi and Cornell to end the 2011 season.

White had a career-high 22 kills in a 3-2 win over Columbia. With 17 digs in the match, White racked up her ninth double-double of the season, a team-best for 2011. She was at her most effective early on with eight kills in a thrilling first set that the Quakers were able to pull out, 30-28. Fittingly, she also threw down the match's final kill to give Penn the 15-9 win in the fifth.

Against Cornell, White produced her first error-free match of her career in the Red and Blue while still notching eight kills. Leading 24-17 in the second set, White appeared to set up for a hard cross-court attack but instead lofted a ball softly over the pair of leaping Big Red defenders, landing the ball just inside the line for the set-winning point to give Penn a 2-0 lead in the match.

 Yale freshman outside hitter Mollie Rogers (San Diego, Calif.) closed out her impressive rookie campaign with two quality performances at Harvard and Dartmouth.

Rogers smashed a match-high 17 kills and hit .515 in a victory over Harvard and helped the Bulldogs clinch the Ivy League championship. She added eight digs, two service aces, an assist, a solo block and did not commit an attack error in 33 swings as the Bulldogs captured its third Ivy title in four years. With the Bulldogs up 15-9 in the second set against Harvard, Rogers displayed her versatility by chasing down a ball, keeping it in play and later completed the point with a solo block to give Yale a seven-point edge. On the next point, Rogers delivered an ace.

Against Dartmouth, Rogers struck for 14 kills, hit .300 and added nine digs, four block assists and two assists. She delivered two key kills against the Big Green late in the fourth set to force a fifth.

Rogers ranks sixth in the Ivy League and leads Yale with a 3.23 kills per set average.

HONOR ROLL
Heather Braunagel, Columbia, Junior, Middle Blocker (Trumbull, Conn.)
.467 hitting pct., 2.43 K/S, 3 BA - Team: 0-2

Nicole Kincade, Princeton, Freshman, Middle Blocker (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
.300 hitting pct., 2.75 K/S, 14 BA - Team: 2-0

Amanda Pacheo, Penn, Junior, Middle Blocker (Long Beach, Calif.)
.478 hitting pct., 3.25 K/S, 1 BS, 4 BA - Team: 2-0

Kendall Polan, Yale, Sophomore, Setter (Cardiff, Calif.)
12.71 A/S, 3.86 D/S, 6 BA - Team: 1-1

Madeline Rumer, Columbia, Sophomore, Middle Blocker (San Rosa Valley, Calif.)
.372 hitting pct., 2.20 K/S, 1 BS, 5 BA - Team: 0-2

UPCOMING SCHEDULE 
Sunday, November 27
Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Selection Show, 6 pm [ESPNU]

Friday, December 2
NCAA First Round (Campus Sites)

Saturday, December 3
NCAA Second Round (Campus Sites)

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
September 6 - Kendall Polan, Yale, Sophomore, Setter
September 13 - Madeline Baird, Dartmouth, Senior, Outside Hitter
September 20 - Annie Villanueva, Dartmouth, Senior, Middle Blocker
September 27 - Cathryn Quinn, Princeton, Senior, Middle Blocker
October 4 - Kendall Polan, Yale, Sophomore, Setter
October 11 - Taylor Cramm, Yale, Senior, Middle Blocker
October 18 - Lydia Rudnick, Princeton, Junior, Outside Hitter  
October 25 - Madeline Baird, Dartmouth, Senior, Outside Hitter
November 1 - Annie Villanueva, Dartmouth, Senior, Middle Blocker
November 8 - Madeleine Przybyl, Cornell, Senior, Middle Blocker
November 15 - Annie Villanueva, Dartmouth, Senior, Middle Blocker & Lydia Rudnick, Princeton, Junior, Outside Hitter

ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
September 6 - Maddie Lord, Brown, Freshman, Outside Hitter
September 13 - Mollie Rogers, Yale, Freshman, Outside Hitter
September 20 - Mollie Rogers, Yale, Freshman, Outside Hitter
September 27 - Ginny Willis, Princeton, Freshman, Setter
October 4 - Nicole Kincade, Princeton, Freshman, Middle Blocker
October 11 - Caitlin Brenton, Columbia, Freshman, Outside Hitter
October 18 - Ginny Willis, Princeton, Freshman, Setter
October 25 - Mollie Rogers, Yale, Freshman, Outside Hitter
November 1 - Alex Schoenberger, Dartmouth, Freshman, Outside Hitter & Ginny Willis, Princeton, Freshman, Setter
November 8 - Allie Frappier, Yale, , Freshman, Outside Hitter
November 15 - Emma White, Penn, Freshman, Outside Hitter & Mollie Rogers, Yale, Freshman, Outside Hitter

HONOR ROLL
September 6 - Janel Forte, Cornell (So., OH), Lauren Martin, Penn (Jr., RS), Cathryn Quinn, Princeton (Sr., MB), Monique Roberts, Columbia (Sr., MB), Mollie Rogers, Yale (Fr., OH) and Annie Villanueva, Dartmouth (Sr., MB)

September 13 - Kathryn Conner, Brown (Fr., DS/L), Hilary Ford, Princeton (Sr., L), Sarah Hanna, Princeton (Fr., OH), Lauren Martin, Penn (Jr., RS), Teresa Skelly, Harvard (So., MB), Meagan Tatum, Cornell (Sr., RS)

September 20 - McHaney Carter, Yale (So., MB), Taylor Docter, Harvard (Jr., OH), Megan Gaughn, Columbia (Jr., OH), Maddie Lord, Brown (Fr., OH), Lauren Martin, Penn (Jr., RS), Jordan Reeder, Cornell (Sr., S)

September 27 - Madeline Baird, Dartmouth (Sr., OH), Heather Braunagel, Columbia (So., MB), Kristen Casey, Harvard (Fr., OH), Allie Frappier, Yale (Fr., OH), Lauren Martin, Penn (Jr., RS), Madeleine Przybyl, Cornell (Sr., MB)   

October 4 - Natalie Doyle, Harvard (So., S), Annika Gilottone, Brown (Sr., S), Madeleine Przybyl, Cornell (Sr., MB), Cathryn Quinn, Princeton (Sr., MB), Dani Shepherd, Penn (So., L), Emma White, Penn (Fr., OH)

October 11 - Taylor Docter, Harvard (Jr., OH), Savannah Fletcher, Columbia (So., MB), Amanda Pacheco, Penn (Jr., MB), Kendall Polan, Yale (So., S), Mollie Rogers, Yale (Fr., OH), Lydia Rudnick, Princeton (Jr., OH), Madeline Rumer, Columbia (So., MB), Annie Villanueva, Dartmouth (Sr., MB)

October 18 - Madeline Baird, Dartmouth (Sr., OH), Heather Braunagel, Columbia (Jr., MB), McHaney Carter, Yale (So., MB), Allie Frappier, Yale (Fr., OH), Kelly Marble, Cornell (So.,  OH), Amanda Pacheco, Penn (Jr., MB)

October 25 - Heather Braunagel, Columbia (Jr., MB), Caitlin Brenton, Columbia (Fr., MB), Meghan Connolly, Penn (Fr., S), Rachel D'Epagnier, Cornell (So., MB), Erica Reetz, Yale (So., OH), Teresa Skelly, Harvard (So., MB), Haley Wessels, Yale (Jr., MB), Ginny Willis, Princeton (Fr., S)

November 1 - Heather Braunagel, Columbia (Jr., MB), Caitlin Brenton, Columbia (Fr., MB), Taylor Docter, Harvard (Jr., OH), Allie Frapier, Yale (Fr., OH), Megan Gaughn, Columbia (Jr., OH), Risa Ka'awa, Cornell (Sr., L), Erica Reetz, Yale (So., OH), Alexandra Rieckhoff, Brown (So., S), Lydia Rudnick, Princeton (So., OH)

November 8 - Amber Bryant, Dartmouth (Sr., L), Caitlin Brenton, Columbia (Fr., MB), Hilary Ford, Princeton (Sr., L), Nicole Kincade, Princeton (Fr., MB), Erica Reetz, Yale (So., OH), Madeline Rumer, Columbia (So., MB), Haley Wessels, Yale (Jr., MB), Christine Wu, Harvard (Sr., L)

November 15 - Heather Braunagel, Columbia (Jr., MB), Nicole Kincade, Princeton (Fr., MB), Amanda Pacheo, Penn (Jr., MB), Kendall Polan, Yale (So., S), Madeline Rumer, Columbia (So., MB)

WEEKLY AWARD HISTORY

*Shared honor

IVY LEAGUE IN NCAA STATS
In the NCAA statistics through the Nov. 13 matches, the Ivy League is represented in the top 100 in the following categories:

Individual
Assists Per Set
46. Kendall Polan, Yale (So., S) - 10.84
88. Ginny Willis, Princeton (Fr., S) - 10.26

Digs Per Set
3. Dani Shepherd, Penn (So., L) - 6.16
16. Christine Wu, Harvard (Sr., L/DS) - 5.56
32. Hilary Ford, Princeton (Sr., DS) - 5.25
43. Annika Gliottone, Brown (Sr., DS/L) - 5.07
53. Risa Ka'awa, Cornell (Jr., DS/L) - 4.95
59. Charlee Dyroff, Columbia (So., L) - 4.89

Hitting Percentage
25. Annie Villanueva, Dartmouth (Sr., MB) - .372

Kills Per Set
68. Lydia Rudnick, Princeton (So., OH) - 3.85

Points Per Set
65. Lydia Rudnick, Princeton (So., OH) - 4.37
76. Cathryn Quinn, Princeton (Sr., MB) - 4.29

Team
Aces Per Set
91. Dartmouth - 1.35
98. Harvard - 1.33

Assists Per Set
29. Yale - 13.07
94. Princeton - 12.22

Blocks Per Set
81. Columbia - 2.28
96. Princeton - 2.20

Digs Per Set
3. Yale - 18.70
4. Penn - 18.70
13. Cornell - 18.26
15. Harvard - 18.15
25. Dartmouth - 17.58
33. Columbia - 17.31
45. Princeton - 16.97
64. Brown - 16.42

Hitting Percentage
28. Yale - .253
76. Dartmouth - .230
95. Columbia - .220

Kills Per Set
29. Yale - 14.01

Match W-L Percentage
37. Yale - .750
64. Princeton - .692
96. Columbia - .640