Volleyball Hosts Yale in Ivy League Opener Saturday for “Pack the Pizz”

Saturday, September 22

Providence, RI

2:00 PM

Brown University

Yale University

Volleyball Hosts Yale in Ivy League Opener Saturday for “Pack the Pizz”

9/20/2018 1:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown University volleyball hosts Yale University in its Ivy League opener at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+) for "Pack the Pizz" Night with free pizza available for students.

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THE IVY LEAGUE ON ESPN
Video of all home contests and all Ivy League games, home and away, will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe and view games by purchasing a monthly package for $4.99 or a yearly package for $49.99.

LAST TIME OUT
Senior Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) posted her sixth straight double-double on 19 kills and 10 digs to propel Brown to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 27-25, 25-18) win over Ocean State rival Bryant University on Thursday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Sophomore Eliza Grover (Menlo Park, Calif.) tallied 15 kills on .400 hitting while junior Jacqueline Jacobs (Atlanta, Ga.) compiled 12 kills with no errors on 17 attempts for a .706 hitting percentage – the fifth-best single-match hitting percentage in program history. Jacobs tacked on a match-high nine blocks.

STILLWELL'S START
Senior Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) leads the Ivy League and ranks 14^th in the NCAA with 4.59 kills per set. Thus far in 2018, she has posted 20 or more kills five times and tallied eight double-doubles. She landed a season-high 26 kills vs. Niagara (Sept. 8) and has posted double-doubles in six straight matches.

TEAM STATS
As a team, Brown ranks first in the Ivy League in hitting percentage (.247), kills per set (14.05), and assists per set (12.88) while ranking second in blocks per set (2.18) and digs per set (16.71). In the NCAA rankings, the Bears rank 26^th in kills per set and 42^nd in digs per set.

ALL-TOURNAMENT ACCOLADES
Senior Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and freshman Kristin Sellers (Menlo Park, Calif.) both earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Friar Classic while Stillwell and junior Jacqueline Jacobs (Atlanta, Ga.) both gained All-Tournament accolades at the Hartford Invitational. Sophomores Eliza Grover (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Tylin Stiller (Evergreen, Colo.) each garnered All-Tournament Team plaudits at the Stetson Invitational.

At the Friar Classic, Stillwell recorded 50 kills (4.55 per set), 39 digs (3.55 per set), and a pair of double-doubles, and Sellers tallied 103 assists (9.36 per set), 37 digs (3.36 per set), and two double-doubles at the tournament. At the Hartford Invitational, Stillwell registered 20 or more kills in all three matches, finishing the tournament with 5.23 kills per set.

SELLERS EARNS IVY ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman Kristin Sellers (Menlo Park, Calif.) gained Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors on Sept. 17 after helping lead the Bears to a 2-1 record at the Stetson Invitational. Sellers tallied 117 assists (9.00 per set), 40 digs (3.08 per set), and two double-doubles on the weekend. She compiled 52 assists and 18 digs in a comeback 3-2 win over Chicago State and contributed 38 assists and 15 digs in a 3-1 win over Stetson.

STILLWELL WINS IVY PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors on Sept. 10 after leading the Bears to a 2-1 record at the Hartford Invitational. She recorded 68 kills (5.23 per set) on .321 hitting and 35 digs (2.69 per set) on the week, earning All-Tournament Team accolades for the second straight week. She tallied 20 or more kills in all three matches with a pair of double-doubles.

IVY RANKINGS
Senior Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) leads the Ivy League with 4.59 kills per set while sophomore Eliza Grover (Menlo Park, Calif.) ranks eighth with 2.82 kills per set. Freshman Kristin Sellers (Menlo Park, Calif.) ranks second in the league in assists per set (10.29).

Junior Jacqueline Jacobs (Atlanta, Ga.) leads the Ancient Eight in blocks per set (1.26) and ranks second in the league in hitting percentage (.371). Freshman libero Paris Winkler (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) sits sixth in the conference with 3.63 digs per set.

THE FRIAR CLASSIC
Brown opened its 2018 season with victories over Fairleigh Dickinson (3-1) and UMass Lowell (3-0) before battling host Providence College in a 3-1 setback at the Friar Classic. In the Bears' opening contests under first-year head coach Ahen Kim, senior Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and freshman Kristin Sellers (Menlo Park, Calif.) both earned All-Tournament Team honors.

THE HARTFORD INVITATIONAL
Brown went 2-1 at the Hartford Invitational (Sept. 8-9), topping Niagara (3-1) and Bucknell (3-1) to close the tournament. Senior Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and junior Jacqueline Jacobs earned All-Tournament Team honors with Stillwell finishing the tournament with 68 kills (5.23 per set) and 35 digs (2.69 per set).

IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
Brown went 2-1 for the third time in as many tournament weekends to open the year, earning comeback wins over Chicago State (3-2) and Stetson (3-1) at the Stetson Invitational. Senior Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) led the Bears at the tournament with 51 kills (3.92 per set) while sophomores Eliza Grover (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Tylin Stiller (Evergreen, Colo.) each garnered All-Tournament Team accolades.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Defending Ivy League co-champion, Yale carries a 6-3 record into the weekend, coming off a win over Alabama State (3-0) and losses to FGCU (3-1) and UCF (3-2) at the Central Florida Tournament last weekend. Ellis DeJardin (2.61 kills per set), Kelley Wirth (2.52 k/s), Samantha Bray (2.48 k/s), and Kathryn Attar (2.47 k/s) pace a balanced offense for the Bulldogs. Kate Swanson leads the Ivy League with 4.81 digs per set. Yale has won six Ivy titles in the last eight years.

THE CAPTAINS
Brown's three seniors – Elisa Merten (Woodside, Calif.), Courtney Palm (St. Louis, Mo.), and Sabrina Stillwell (Laguna Beach, Calif.) – will captain the Bears in 2018. Combined the trio has played in over 200 career matches and over 730 career sets entering the 2018 season.

THE NEWCOMERS
The Bears' six-member Class of 2022 includes middle blocker Olivia Dukat (Roswell, Ga.), right-side hitter Morgan Grasch (Montalba, Texas), outside hitter Catherine Mihm (Rolling Hills, Calif.), libero/defensive specialist Ashley Oelrich (Newberry, Fla.), setter Kristin Sellers (Menlo Park, Calif.), and libero/defensive specialist Paris Winkler (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.).

NEW YEAR, NEW STAFF
The Bears will feature a new coaching staff in 2018 as head coach Ahen Kim enters his first season with the program. Kim helped lead American University to five straight Patriot League titles and three NCAA tournament wins as an assistant coach from 2012-17. He has two first-year assistant coaches in Katie Reifert and Aubrey Marsellis.

GIBBS '06 WINS SILVER AT OLYMPICS
Since the Bears last took the court, volleyball alumna Lauren Gibbs '06 won an Olympic silver medal in women's bobsled at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Gibbs became Brown's first female medalist at the winter Olympics outside of the sport of women's ice hockey.

UP NEXT
After hosting Yale, Brown plays its first back-to-back Ivy League weekend with road matches on ESPN+ at Princeton (Sept. 28, 7:00 p.m.) and at Penn (Sept. 29, 5:00 p.m.).