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Brown University
1-0
Hartford
0-5
Volleyball Tops Hartford, Falls to Bucknell on Opening Day
9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Brown University volleyball topped the University of Hartford, 3-0, in its season opener prior to falling to Bucknell University, 3-2, at the Sacred Heart University Hampton Inn Invitational on Friday at the Pitt Center.
The Bears (1-1) swept the Hawks (0-5), 25-17, 25-15, 25-14, in their first match of 2015 before nearly rallying to beat the Bison (3-1), eventually falling, 25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 15-9.
Freshman Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) paced the Bears with 22 kills between the two matches. Sophomore Melissa Cairo (Hillsborough, Calif.) averaged 4.57 digs per set over the two contests with 32 total digs.
Next, Brown continues play at Sacred Heart with a match against the host Pioneers tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Match 1: Brown 3, Hartford 0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-14)
Brown opened its 2015 season with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-14) win over the Hartford on Friday afternoon.
In her first collegiate contest, Stillwell led the Bears to the sweep of the Hawks with a match-high 11 kills. Junior Payton Smith (Atherton, Calif.) supported her with nine kills on a .529 hitting percentage.
Junior Sarah Lucenti (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) dished out a team-best 18 assists while Cairo and senior Shannon Frost (Santa Ana, Calif.) registered 13 and 12 digs respectively.
Both teams played evenly through the first half of set one with the Bears holding a 13-11 lead midway through the frame. Brown then used a 7-0 run behind the serve of Frost to take a 20-11 edge. The Bears notched the set's final three points for the set win. Freshman Emily Miller (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Stillwell each tallied three kills in the set, and Cairo posted seven digs.
The Bears took a 10-3 lead to open set two and held at least a five-point edge for the duration. Brown gained its largest advantage at 22-11 behind a 7-1 run before scoring the set's final three points. Stillwell and Smith each recorded three kills in the frame while Cairo totaled six digs.
In set three, Brown captured leads of 8-4 and 15-8 in the first half of the set. After taking their 15-8 edge, the Bears maintained at least a six-point advantage the rest of the way and earned four of the frame's final five points. Stillwell and Smith paced the club in the set with five and four kills respectively.
Match 2: Bucknell 3, Brown 2 (25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 9-15)
Brown almost came all the way back from a 2-0 set deficit, tying the match at two sets apiece, before ultimately dropping a 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 9-15) decision to Bucknell in the team's nightcap.
Miller led Brown with 15 kills on .414 hitting while junior Emma Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) followed with 12 kills, and Stillwell landed 11 kills. Smith added nine kills, five aces, and four blocks.
Cairo made a team-high 19 digs while Frost charted 18 digs. Lucenti recorded her first double-double of 2015 with 29 assists and 17 digs. Freshman Elisa Merten (Woodside, Calif.) tacked on 15 assists.
In set one, neither team held a lead larger than two points until the Bears grabbed a 23-20 edge. The Bison responded, taking the set's last five points, behind three kills from Steph Occhiogrosso.
Set two followed a similar script as both sides played within three points of one another until Bucknell grabbed a 21-17 advantage. The Bison won four of the last six points to take the frame.
Brown countered in the third set, opening up an 11-6 margin early in the frame, including three kills from Miller. The Bears maintained at least a two-point advantage for the remainder of the set.
In set four, the Bears started with a 10-6 lead before the Bison tied the score at 12-12. Brown proceeded to outscore Bucknell 13-2 the rest of the way to force a deciding fifth set.
Bucknell claimed a 7-5 lead midway through the fifth set and did not relinquish its edge in the decisive frame.
