Ray Tompkins Report

Yale Volleyball closed out another extraordinary season on the court with its third 20-win season in the last six years, fourth straight Ivy Championship, and third straight season competing in the NCAA Tournament.

Notably, senior captain Kendall Polan became the first three-time Ivy League Volleyball Player of the Year award winner in conference history. Four team members also earned All-Ivy honors: junior Mollie Rogers and sophomore Kelly Johnson were named to the All-Ivy First Team, and junior Maddie Rudnick and freshman Brittani Steinberg received All-Ivy Second Team selections.

The team’s three seniors also recorded the winningest four-year mark in the Ivy League history with a 51-5 conference record and four consecutive titles during their time at Yale.

After 11 seasons as the leader of Yale Volleyball, head coach Erin Appleman has guided the Bulldogs to six Ivy League Championships (2004, 2008, 2010-2013), five NCAA Tournament appearances (2004, 2008, 2011-2013), four 20-plus win seasons (2005, 2008, 2009, 2013) and became the first coach in conference history to win an NCAA match -- a feat she has accomplished twice (2004 and 2008).

The Ray Tompkins Associates Athletic Directors Excellence Fund addresses the most urgent needs across all sports. If you have already given to your favorite sport, thank you! Please consider making an additional gift in support of the RTA Fund. To do so, you can mail payment and the appeal form included with this newsletter to Yale Athletics P.O. Box 1844, New Haven, CT 06508-1844, or make a gift online at www.yalebulldogs.com/give.html. Thank you for supporting Yale Athletics!

On November 22, Yale Athletics honored the 2013 recipients of the George H.W. Bush ’48 Lifetime of Leadership Award at the Blue Leadership Ball. The class of 2013 Bush Award winners are Rear Admiral Richard Lyon ’45, Patricia Melton ’83, Bruce Alexander ’65, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn ’56 and Jerome Kenney ’63.

The evening, which was a fresh take on our flagship event, featured new elements like signature cocktails before and after dinner, mobile bidding open to both attendees and bidders at home, and dessert cocktail hour complete with passed desserts and chocolate cocktails.

The award winners were honored with video presentations depicting their life and accomplishments in their own words and through the eyes of their closest supporters. If you weren’t able to join us, you can view the videos and learn more about the event at yalebulldogs.com.

The honorees are joined by Athletic Director Tom Beckett and president Peter Salovey

In October, President Peter Salovey was installed as Yale University’s 23rd president. As part of his inauguration, the president spent time with each area of the university, including the staff, coaches and student-athletes in Athletics. In his address to the crowd, the president spoke of “basking in the reflected glory” of the many accomplishments of our student-athletes and teams. This fall, he and his wife Marta have been spotted in the stands at many contests, both home and away.

President Salovey addresses athletics

President Salovey and Marta Moret pictured with members of the women’s basketball team

The strength of our proud alumni base was evident this fall when a number of successful and memorable alumni gatherings were hosted: The Soccer Association welcomed back over 70 alumni and friends of the program for their Alumni Weekend in October The Football Association golf outing in August was the most successful single fundraising event in Yale Athletics history The Field Hockey Association celebrated the Caroline Ruth Thompson ‘02 Head Coach of Field Hockey endowment by welcoming alumnae and friends back to Johnson Field The Lacrosse Association Alumni Weekend in October saw a remarkable turnout; the group surpassed their fundraising goal by $22,000 thanks to the support of nearly 60 sponsors The Hockey Association came together in August for a golf outing which featured a sold out field of over 144 attendees The Lightweight Crew Association celebrated the Y150 Head Coach of Lightweight Rowing endowment; the group convened at Gilder Boathouse included several former coaches and over 100 alumni and featured a video presentation on the history of the program

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY Kevin Dooney — 2nd Team All-Ivy, USTFCCCA All-Northeast Region

FIELD HOCKEY Erica Borgo — 1st Team All-Ivy, 2nd Team NFHCA All-Mideast Region

MEN'S SOCCER Nick Alers — Capital One Academic All-America 1st Team; 1st Team All-Ivy Cameron Kirdzik — 2nd Team All-Ivy Max McKiernan — 2nd Team All-Ivy Henos Musie — 2nd Team All-Ivy

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Nicole Wells — 2nd Team All-Ivy Georgia Holland — 1st Team All-Ivy, 2nd Team NFHCA All-Mideast Region Heather Schlesier — 2nd Team All-Ivy

Melissa Gavin — 1st Team All-Ivy Meredith Speck — 1st Team All-Ivy Shannon McSweeney — 2nd Team All-Ivy

VOLLEYBALL

FOOTBALL Tyler Varga —Honorable Mention All-Ivy Beau Palin — Honorable Mention All-Ivy Wes Gavin — 2nd Team All-Ivy John Oppenheimer —Honorable Mention All-Ivy William Vaughan — Honorable Mention All-Ivy Kyle Cazzetta — Honorable Mention All-Ivy Foyesade Oloukun — 2nd Team All-Ivy Cole Champion — 2nd Team All-Ivy Ben Carbery — 2nd Team All-Ivy

Kendall Polan — Ivy League Player of the Year; 1st Team All-Ivy Kelly Johnson — 1st Team All-ivy; Named Ivy League Player of the Week Mollie Rogers — 1st Team All-Ivy; Named Ivy League Player of the Week twice Maddie Rudnick — 2nd Team All-Ivy Brittani Steinberg — 2nd Team All-Ivy; Named Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice; Named Ivy League Player of the Week once

Deon Randall — 1st Team All-Ivy, FCS All-New England

Johnson Field, the home of Yale Field Hockey since 2001, was resurfaced during the off-season as part of a planned facilities upgrade. The installation of the royal blue AstroTurf was generously funded by the university and the team was able to open its season at home for the first game against Virginia.

Coxe Cage, the home of Yale men’s and women’s indoor track and field underwent major renovations this fall, including the installation of a new roof and resurfacing of the track. This project was generously funded by the university and was celebrated by the programs and alumni in November.