NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Harvard Women's Volleyball team (15-8, 8-6 Ivy) ended Coach Jennifer Weiss' 30th season in 2023 in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal round, as the no. 4 seed Crimson fell to the no. 1 seed Yale in New Haven. Yale won the match in four sets, with the Crimson winning set one, with scores of 26-24, 25-16, 25-23 and 25-11.

The first set was a thrill to watch from start to finish, with the Bulldogs taking an early lead but Harvard holding them close through the first points. The Bulldogs took a 5-point lead at 19 but Harvard was able to tie it up at 22. They kept it even to 24, at which point the Crimson scored the next two points and had their first come-from-behind set win over the Bulldogs this season, 26-24. In the first frame, Harvard out-blocked Yale 5-4 and Rocky Aguirre scored the one service ace of the set.

The second set was close through the first 13 points, with Harvard holding the advantage up to point nine, then keeping the score even to 13. From that point on, Yale built up a lead that Harvard was unable to surmount, evening the slate at 1-1. The Bulldogs won set two 25-16.

Yale took an early lead in set three, but Harvard went on a four-point run to tie the third set up at nine. With another extremely close set, the Crimson pulled ahead 23-22 later in the set, but Yale scored two aces to close out the set and won 25-23, going up 2-1 in the match.

The fourth set proved to be the Crimson's final of the 2023 season, as Yale took control early and went on to win the set 25-11, winning the match 3-1 and ending Harvard's post-season at the Ivy League semifinal match.

Harvard Highlights

• Three Crimson players scored eight kills against Yale: Ava Rauser, Nicole Prescott and Katie Vorhies. Rauser led in hitting, hitting .125 throughout the match. Ashley Wang was not far behind with seven kills, while Ryleigh Patterson added six.
• Wang and Aguirre, the two Crimson student-athletes who have amassed over 1000 career assists, posted 18 and 14 assists, respectively.
• Aguirre and Patterson scored the team's two aces on the night.
• Patterson was a leader in defense, making five block assists through four sets. Wang scored the team's one solo block and added two assists as well.
• Three Crimson players made double-digit digs, led by Lindsey Zhang with 15. She was followed by Prescott with 12 and Wang with 11.
• Patterson and Rauser each scored 9.5 points for the Crimson off kills and blocks.