Volleyball beats Princeton for 10th-straight win, stays undefeated in Ivy League

Saturday, October 16

Princeton, N.J.

5:00 PM

Brown University

14-3,7-0Ivy League

Princeton

12-3,6-1Ivy League

Brown

Princeton

Photo by: David Silverman Photography

Volleyball beats Princeton for 10th-straight win, stays undefeated in Ivy League

10/16/2021 7:40:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PRINCETON, N.J. – Brown volleyball sits alone at the top of the Ivy League standings after beating Princeton 3-1 on Saturday (Oct. 16). The Bears (14-3, 7-0 Ivy) are now 7-0 after the first half of Ivy League play and are tied for the best conference start in school history.

Going up against a Princeton team (12-3, 6-1 Ivy) that has held opponents to a league-best .166, Brown's offense hit .255. Sophia Miller led the team with 18 kills, hitting .317. Kate Sheire was second on the team with 15 kills and Beau Vanderlaan had 12 kills while hitting .550. Cierra Jenkins dished out season-best 53 assists.

Brown's defense finished the match with 72 digs and 11 blocks. Victoria Vo tallied 26 digs and Miller added 16 to post a double-double. At the net, Brown had 11 blocks. Sheire finished with a career-high nine blocks and Gabby Derrick added three.

"We were able to get the top two teams [Yale and Princeton] at their places which is a big deal," said head coach Ahen Kim. "We know Princeton is tough at their gym, they are a mature team so it's big to win this on the road. We control the rest of the way now and just know that we have to do a good job in the second half."

The win for the Bears was the first win against the Tigers since 2013, ending a 13-match losing streak the Princeton.

Brown jumped out early to a 7-3 lead after a block from Sheire but Princeton climbed back in to the set, eventually tying it at 8-8. In a sign of things to come the rest of the match, neither team led by more than three the rest of the way. Late in the set, a kill by Vanderlaan and two errors by the tigers put Brown up 22-21 but Princeton quickly jumped back up 23-22.

The Bears responded with kills by Jenkins and Miller to get set point but a kill from the Tigers tied the set at 24. After a kill by Zoe Ubamadu, an error from Princeton gave Brown the first set at 26-24.

After hitting .424 in the first set, Brown could not get out of its own way in the second, committing 13 errors and hitting just .024 as Princeton tied up the match. Brown held a five-point lead multiple times in the middle of the set but Princeton went on a 5-0 run to tie the set 12-12. The teams traded points with Brown taking a 21-20 lead but three errors by Brown helped the Tigers end the set on a 5-1 run to win it 25-22.

Princeton kept the momentum going, jumping ahead 9-2 in the third. A 4-0 run, including two service aces, pulled Brown back in the set and after kills by Sheire and Jenkins, Brown had made the score 10-8 in favor of the Tigers. Brown tied the set four times before taking the lead 17-16 after a Princeton error.

The Tigers jumped ahead 20-17 after a 4-0 run but the Bears responded with a run of their own. Two kills by Miller and another by Jenkins tied the set 20-20. A few points later, with Princeton up 23-22, Brown got a kill by Sheire, an error by the Tigers and another kill by Sheire to give the Bears the 25-22 set win.

With the score 5-4 in the fourth, Brown got back-to-back kills by Miller, one from Kayla Griebl and an ace from Kristin Sellers to jump ahead 9-4. The Bears kept the lead at 12-9 after a block by the duo of Sheire and Gabby Derrick, the first of six blocks during the set. Brown kept Princeton at bay for most of the set, holding a 17-15 lead after a service error by the Bears.

From there, the defense made its mark. The run for the Bears started with a block by Sheire. An error by Princeton was followed by another block from Derrick and Sheire. Sheire added a kill before teaming with Derrick for another block and then picking up a solo block to put Brown up 23-15. Sheire's kill gave Brown match point before Princeton fought off six match points, forcing two Brown timeouts.

Up 25-22, Brown got a kill from Vanderlaan to end the match.

"We outblocked Princeton purely off of Kate," said Kim "We wanted to find the rhythm to come out with the block and we knew it was going to take minute but I kept telling the team to keep working hard. Kate stayed determined, especially during the fourth set. A great individual performance."

Brown will return home to begin the second half of Ivy League play with a match against Yale on Friday, Oct. 22. The match against the Bulldogs is set to begin at 7 p.m.