Women's Volleyball Weekly Release - Week 7

Yale's Taylor Cramm and Columbia's Caitlin Brenton

Updated Stats (PDF)

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The race of the 2011 Ivy League women's volleyball title is beginning to take shape as Yale and Columbia posted weekend sweeps to sit atop the standings along with Princeton going into the Week 7 schedule.

Yale (11-4, 5-0) looks to complete the first half of the Ivy schedule undefeated but has a tough Princeton-Penn road swing to get past first. The Bulldogs have been dominant so far this year leading the League in hitting percentage (.233), kills (13.22) assists (12.44), service aces (1.36) and digs (18.11).

Columbia (10-5, 4-1) picked up an important 3-0 sweep over Princeton (11-6, 4-1) and a hard-fought 3-2 slugfest over Penn (6-9, 2-3) last week to move into a second-place tie with the Tigers. The Lions now have keep that momentum on the road to Dartmouth (10-6, 2-3) and Harvard (9-6, 2-3) this weekend to maintain their place in the top half of the standings.

Princeton rebounded from its Oct. 7 loss to Columbia with a 3-1 victory at Cornell (3-13, 0-5). The Tigers have another tough back-to-back this weekend with League-leading Yale Friday night and Brown (5-11, 1-4) Saturday evening at Dilion Gym.

The Big Red opens the week's schedule with a Tuesday tussle at Colgate before traveling to Harvard and Dartmouth over the weekend.

Ivy Notes
- All eight Ivy schools are ranked in the top 100 nationally in digs per set in the Oct. 9 NCAA statistics update. See the Ivy League in NCAA Stats note below for the complete listing.
- Columbia's Oct. 8 win over Penn was its first over the Quakers since 2005 and the first for head coach Jon Wilson.
- Columbia improved to 4-1 in the Ivy League with the two-game sweep, marking its best-ever start to the League schedule.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Yale senior middle blocker Taylor Cramm (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) hit an impressive .538 without an attack error in 26 attempts in victories over Dartmouth and Harvard last weekend to keep the Bulldogs undefeated in Ivy play.

In the victory over Dartmouth, Cramm tied for a team-best nine kills. Cramm had three kills during a 7-0 run to close out the first set. She hit .643 for the match, added three block assists and a solo block.

In the win against Harvard, Cramm struck for five kills, five digs, two block assists, a solo block and an assist. During that match, Cramm combined with freshman outside hitter Mollie Rogers for a block assist to end the second set and give Yale a 25-21 win.

Cramm leads Yale and stands second in the conference with a .392 hitting percentage on the season.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Columbia freshman outside hitter Caitlin Brenton (San Jose, Calif.) had one of her best weekends wearing a Lion uniform thus far, hitting a stellar .487 and compiling nine total blocks in leading the Lions to a home sweep of Princeton and Penn.

Brenton started the weekend tying her collegiate career high with eight kills and hitting .571 in Columbia's win over Princeton. The next night against Penn, she set a new high with 12 kills, hitting .440 in the five-set win over the Quakers. She also had five blocks, her second highest total of the season.

HONOR ROLL
Taylor Docter, Harvard, Junior, Outside Hitter (Los Altos, Calif.)
.342 hitting pct., 3.86 K/S, 1.57 D/S, 2 BA - Team: 1-1

Savannah Fletcher, Columbia, Sophomore, Middle Blocker (Freeland, Wash.)
.462 hitting pct., 2.40 K/S, 1 BS, 4 BA - Team: 2-0

Amanda Pacheco, Penn, Junior, Middle Blocker (Long Beach, Calif.)
.333 hitting pct., 3.67 K/S, 1 ASST, 1 BS, 6 BA - Team: 1-1

Kendall Polan, Yale, Sophomore, Setter (Cardiff, Calif.)
.346 hitting pct., 1.83 K/S, 11.17 A/S, 1.91 D/S, 7 SA - Team: 2-0

Mollie Rogers, Yale, Freshman, Outside Hitter (San Diego, Calif.)
.255 hitting pct., 3.50 K/S, 3.00 D/S, 3 ASST, 1 SA, 1 BS, 5 BA - Team: 2-0

Lydia Rudnick, Princeton, Junior, Outside Hitter (Encinitas, Calif.)
.244 hitting pct., 4.57 K/S, 4.86 D/S, 1 SA, 5 BA - Team: 1-1

Madeline Rumer, Columbia, Sophmore, Middle Blocker (Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.)
.396 hitting pct., 4.17 K/S, 1 SA, 2 BA - Team: 2-0

Annie Villanueva, Dartmouth, Senior, Middle Blocker (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
.471 hitting pct., 3.33 K/S, 1 SA, 3 BA - Team: 1-1


UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, October 11
Cornell at Colgate, 7 pm

Friday, October 14
*Brown at Penn, 7 pm
*Columbia at Dartmouth, 7 pm
*Cornell at Harvard, 7 pm
*Yale at Princeton, 7 pm

Saturday, October 15
*Brown at Princeton, 4 pm
*Columbia at Harvard, 5 pm
*Cornell at Dartmouth, 5 pm
*Yale at Penn, 5 pm

* Ivy League Contests

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
October 25
November 1
November 8
November 15

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
October 25
November 1
November 8
November 15

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
October 25
November 1
November 8
November 15

WEEKLY AWARD HISTORY

*Shared honor

IVY LEAGUE IN NCAA STATS
In the NCAA statistics through the Oct. 9 matches, the Ivy League is represented in the top 100 in the following categories:

Individual
Aces Per Set
83. Kendall Polan, Yale (So., S) - 0.38
90. Dani Shepherd, Penn (So., L) - 0.37

Assists Per Set
72. Kendall Polan, Yale (So., S) - 10.44

Blocks Per Set
86. Monique Roberts, Columbia (Sr., MB) - 1.12

Digs Per Set
3. Dani Shepherd, Penn (So., L) - 6.32
13. Christine Wu, Harvard (Sr., L/DS) - 5.42
19. Hilary Ford, Princeton (Sr., DS) - 5.30
45. Annika Gliottone, Brown (Sr., DS/L) - 4.95
61. Charlee Dyroff, Columbia (So., L) - 4.80

Hitting Percentage
37. Annie Villanueva, Dartmouth (Sr., MB) - .367
95. Madeline Rummer, Columbia (So., MB/RS) - .333 

Points Per Set
75. Cathryn Quinn, Princeton (Sr., MB) - 4.33

Team
Aces Per Set
94. Yale - 1.36

Assists Per Set
68. Yale - 12.44

Blocks Per Set
47. Columbia - 2.47
80. Princeton - 2.28

Digs Per Set
7. Yale - 18.11
9. Penn - 17.93
20. Harvard - 17.52
22. Dartmouth - 17.34
25. Cornell - 17.25
42. Columbia - 16.68
48. Princeton - 16.48
96. Brown - 15.73

Hitting Percentage
69. Yale - .232
79. Dartmouth - .229
98. Columbia - .223

Kills Per Set
82. Yale - 13.22
98. Penn - 13.07

Match W-L Percentage
48. Yale - .733
75. Columbia - .667
93. Princeton - .647