Nov. 20, 2007

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The Ivy League volleyball awards were announced on Tuesday, and four Yale players earned postseason honors. Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Crusey was selected to the All-Ivy first team for the second straight season. Yale has landed at least one player on the first team in each of the last four years. Freshman libero Kelly Ozurovich and junior setter Ally Mendenhall were named second team All-Ivy, and senior right side Kali Nelson earned honorable mention recognition. Crusey and Mendenhall each earned All-Ivy recognition for the second year in a row, while Ozurovich and Nelson were honored for the first time.

Crusey, one of three players selected to the first team in each of the last two seasons, leads the Bulldogs and finished fourth in the Ivy League with 4.14 kills per game. She also ranks in the top 10 in the League in digs (ninth, 3.94). Last season's Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Crusey leads the Bulldogs with 17 solo blocks.

Mendenhall, who was also a second team selection in 2006, leads the team with 12.16 assists per game, which ranks second in the Ivy League. The only Bulldog to play in all 79 games this season, she is also averaging 2.94 digs, 0.41 blocks and 0.35 service aces per game. Mendenhall was named Ivy Player of the Week on Oct. 30 after finishing one kill shy of a triple-double in a five-game victory over Dartmouth. Yale's setter has been named either first or second team All-Ivy in each of the last six seasons (Jacqueline Becker four times, Mendenhall twice).

Ozurovich was named Ivy Rookie of the Week three times during the season. She leads the team with 5.34 digs per game and has eclipsed the 30-dig plateau three times. Ozurovich ranks second in the Ivy League with 0.47 aces per game. She has 406 digs this season, the second-highest single-season total in school history and the most ever by a Yale freshman. She was the only freshman named to the first or second team, but was beaten out for Rookie of the Year honors by Penn's Julia Swanson.

Nelson switched from the left side to the right side this season and was rewarded with an honorable mention nod. She ranks third on the squad in kills (149) and fourth in kills per game (2.04). Nelson is also averaging 2.94 digs, 0.41 blocks and 0.56 assists per game.

Ivy League champion Princeton had a league-high five players named All-Ivy, including unanimous Player of the Year Parker Henritze. Yale and Penn, who tied for second place, each had four players chosen.

The Bulldogs' (16-7, 10-4 Ivy) 2007 season isn't done yet. The team concludes the campaign with three matches this weekend at the Baden Thanksgiving Classic in Long Beach, Calif. Yale takes on Long Beach State (21-6), No. 8 Florida (26-1) and UC Santa Barbara (11-18) in the two-day event.

2007 All-Ivy Volleyball Team

Player of the Year: *Parker Henritze, Princeton
Rookie of the Year: Julia Swanson, Penn

First Team
Alexis Crusey, Yale (So., OH)
*Lindsey Ensign, Princeton (Jr., MB)
*Parker Henritze, Princeton (Jr., OH)
Katie Hirsch, Dartmouth (Sr., S)
Bailey Robinson, Princeton (Jr., S)
*Kathryn Turner, Penn (Jr., MB)
Megan Mushovic, Cornell (So., L)
*-unanimous selection

Second Team
Emily Borman, Cornell (Jr., MB)
Sheena Donohue, Princeton (So., OH)
Ally Mendenhall, Yale (Jr., S)
Anna Shlimak, Penn (Sr., OH)
Suzie Trimble, Harvard (Sr., MB)
Linda Zhang, Penn (Sr., S)
Kelly Ozurovich, Yale (Fr., L)

Honorable Mention
Morgan Covington, Dartmouth (So., MB)
Natalie Gerling, Columbia (Sr., RS)
Katie Lapinski, Brown (Sr., L)
Jenny McReynolds, Princeton (Sr., L)
Natalie Meyers, Brown (Jr., S)
Kali Nelson, Yale (Sr., RS)
Julia Swanson, Penn (Fr., OH)
Jess Thomas, Dartmouth (Jr., OH)

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity