Volleyball Honors Seniors, Concludes Best Season Since 2001 in Finale against Princeton

Friday, November 15

Providence, RI

7:00 PM

Brown University

13-10, 5-7Ivy

Princeton University

16-6, 10-1Ivy

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Princeton	25	25	25	3
Brown	17	18	21	0

Volleyball Honors Seniors, Concludes Best Season Since 2001 in Finale against Princeton

11/15/2019 9:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior Makena Ehlert tallied her 27^th career double-double on 13 kills and 14 digs, but Brown University volleyball fell to Princeton University, 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-21), on Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

Competing in their season finale, the Bears (13-10, 5-7) dropped the straight-set decision to the Tigers (16-6, 10-1 Ivy) – who clinched at least a share of the Ivy title for the fourth time in the last five years – but still concluded the season with their most wins and first winning campaign since 2001.

Brown came in fourth place in the Ivy standings, finishing in the top half of the league for the first time since 2014.

"Last season we hit just a clip over .200, and this year we were right around .230 which is a significant jump," Brown head coach Ahen Kim said. "Today we weren't able to hit our average, but the team really persevered through some difficult circumstances this year and got better through it. We really hit our stride in the second half of the season."

Ehlert (Orange, County, Calif.) posted her 11^th double-double of the season on her 13 kills and 14 digs. She notched double-figure kills in 21 of 23 matches on the year and concluded her career with 41 double-figure kill performances.

Senior Jacqueline Jacobs (Atlanta, Ga.) closed her career as Brown's all-time leader in career blocks per set (1.04) and in third place in career blocks (339).

Freshman Sophia Miller (Dallas, Texas) – who entered the night second in the conference in kills per set in Ivy play – notched eight kills and 13 digs while junior Eliza Grover (Menlo Park, Calif.) added six kills.

Freshman libero Kaitlyn Wong (Los Altos, Calif.) posted 11 digs as she registered double-figure digs in 15 of her last 17 matches on the year. Sophomore Kristin Sellers (Menlo Park, Calif.) and junior Bailie Salk (Tiburon, Calif.) distributed 16 and 13 assists respectively.

"The future is looking pretty bright," Kim said. "Sophia had a very good season, regularly getting double-doubles in conference play. Kaitlyn entered tonight's match third in the league in digs per set, and Audra Curtin entered the night leading the league in blocks per set. Those freshmen contributing, and our returners getting better since last spring is a credit to them. It's the right message that we are hungry to keep getting better."

Prior to the match, Brown honored the four members of its senior class – Madeleine Becker (San Mateo, Calif.), Caroline Biggar (Austin, Texas), Ehlert, and Jacobs – for their hard work and dedication to the program during their time on College Hill.

"We're really grateful to the seniors," Kim said. "In their last year, they did a lot to bring the competitiveness of Brown volleyball to a new level that it hasn't seen since 2001. That will be the legacy they set for future Brown volleyball players to go one step ahead of that."

In set one, Princeton opened the match with a 9-2 lead, and the Bears could pull no closer than five points the rest of the way as the Tigers took the frame 25-17. Grover terminated on five kills on .714 hitting in the stanza.

In set two, Brown remained within 9-7 before Princeton used a 4-0 run to move ahead 13-7. The Bears stayed within 19-14 prior to the Tigers closing out a 25-18 set win. Ehlert notched five kills and five digs in the period.

The Tigers opened set three with a 10-3 edge, but the Bears battled back, forcing Princeton to use two timeouts late in the frame and cutting the margin to 24-21. The visitors held on for a 25-21 set win despite four kills and six digs from Ehlert in the set.

For Princeton, Devon Peterkin landed a match-high 17 kills, Natasha Skov tallied a double-double on 10 kills and 12 digs, and Jessie Harris dished out a match-best 48 assists.

Brown's match against Penn, originally scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 16, was cancelled as the Quakers cancelled the remainder of their season. The Ivy League has changed all conference results against Penn to non-conference results.

Video of all Brown volleyball home contests and all Ivy League matches, home and away, will be broadcast live on ESPN+.