Volleyball captures Ivy League title with win over Penn

Saturday, November 6

Providence, R.I.

5:00 PM

Brown University

18-4,11-1Ivy League

Penn

6-15,3-9Ivy League

Penn

Brown

Volleyball captures Ivy League title with win over Penn

11/6/2021 8:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – With a dominant win over Penn, Brown volleyball earned its first Ivy League championship since 2001. The Bears did so on their home court after honoring three seniors – Catherine Mihm, Ashley Oelrich and Kristin Sellers – before the match.

The Bears also clinched the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament with the win and Princeton's win over Yale on Saturday (Nov. 6).

Brown (18-4, 11-1 Ivy) was stellar offensively, hitting .380 as the Bears beat Penn 25-19, 25-15, 25-15. Beau Vanderlaan led the team with 14 kills, hitting .458 for the match. Kate Sheire finished the match with 10 kills, hitting .667. Gabby Derrick was third on the team with a career-high eight kills and hit .538. Cierra Jenkins guided the offense with 40 assists.

The Bears 11 Ivy League wins tied the program record for wins in a conference play season with the 2001 year.

"I am so proud of this team, they have gone through so much," said head coach Ahen Kim. "Our seniors missing that year because of COVID, their patience, their determination to continue to stay hunger, get better and steward a young team, it is pretty remarkable. I am getting a lot of congrats but its really on them and the ownership they took."

On defense, Brown held Penn to just .143 hitting, the fourth-straight game that Brown has held their opponents under .200 hitting. It is also the fourth-straight sweep for the Bears as the defense has continued its strong play. No player for the Quakers finished with more than nine kills. Victoria Vo led the defense with 16 digs and Sophia Miller added 13.

"It feels so good to win this on our home court," said Miller. "We have worked so hard for this and I believe we deserve this. To know that our sophomores and freshmen have grown so much this season, I can trust them with anything in any moment."

At the net, Brown finished the match with 12 blocks to just four for Penn. Derrick and Vanderlaan led the Bears, each collecting six blocks. Jilienne Widener finished the match with four.

With the score tied at 11 midway through set one, Brown got a kill from Vanderlaan and a block by Vanderlaan and Widener to end a 3-0 run. Vanderlaan picked up a solo block two points later to put Brown up 15-12. Penn cut the lead to one twice but Brown also found a way to answer. Kills by Miller, Jenkins and Derrick, plus an ace by senior Kristin Sellers put the Bears up 21-16.

Up three, Derrick, a freshman, played a part in the next three points from Brown. After a kill, Derrick teamed with Sheire and then with Miller on blocks to give Brown set point. Sheire finished off the set with a kill.

Brown found itself down 11-10 but an 8-0 run swung the tide of the set for the Bears. Three errors by Penn started the run. Vanderlaan responded with two kills and a kill by Widener made the score 16-11. After a block by the duo of Vanderlaan and Jenkins, Vanderlaan picked up her third kill of the run to put Brown up 18-11.

Vanderlaan, another freshman for the Bears who has been instrumental this season, had a solo block and back-to-back kills for Brown during another 5-0 run to make the score 23-14. A Penn error and block by Jenkins and Derrick gave the Bears a 2-0 lead in the match.

Derrick started the third set with two kills and a block with Widener to give the Bears a 5-2 lead. Penn tied the set at six but Vanderlaan responded with two kills and Miller added another for a 3-0 run. Up 11-9, Brown got kills from Miller before two from Sheire to take control of the set.

Another 5-0 by the Bears increased the lead to nine and kills by Shiere and Jenkins pushed the score to 22-12. Up 23-15, Brown got a kill by senior Catherine Mihm and Sheire finished the match with a kill to wrap up the Ivy League title for the Bears.

Brown will finish its season looking for the most Ivy League wins in school history next weekend on the road. The Bears will play at Harvard on Friday (Nov. 12) before traveling to Dartmouth for the season finale on Saturday (Nov. 13).