Volleyball Hosts Le Moyne and Rhode Island to Start the Season

Friday, September 1

Providence, R.I.

1 p.m.

Brown University

Le Moyne

Volleyball Hosts Le Moyne and Rhode Island to Start the Season

8/31/2023 2:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown volleyball begins its season with three games over the weekend, starting with a home doubleheader on Friday, Sept. 1 in the Pizzitola Sports Center.

The weekend starts with a match against Le Moyne (1 p.m.) and Rhode Island (6 p.m.) on Friday. On Saturday (Sept. 2), the Bears will make the trek to Kingston to take on the Rams at 6 p.m.

This will be the first games under the leadership of new head coach Taylor Virtue. Virtue was named head coach after spending two years on the bench as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Bears.

Scouting the Bears

Brown returns 70% of its offense from last season with two players (Kate Sheire, Beau Vanderlaan) posting 200-plus kills and Kayla Griebl have over 100 kills last season.
Cierra Jenkins is back for her senior season to guide the Bears' offense from the setter position. Last season, Jenkins led Brown with 363 assists, despite playing in just 11 matches (9.81 assists per set).
On defense, Victoria Vo returns after leading Brown in digs (313 total/3.23 per set) and Jessie Golden comes back after posting the second most digs last season (266 total/2.74 per set).
The net defense should continue to be a strong point for the Bears as Brown returns both Vanderlaan (116 total blocks/1.20 per set) and Gabby Derrick (99 total/1.13 per set). Sheire also had a strong year at the net with 0.92 blocks per set.

Scouting the Dolphins

Le Moyne is playing in its first Division I season after making the transition from Division II over the summer.
The Dolphins lost all three matches in their opening weekend in straight-sets, falling to Davidson, West Virginia and College of Charleston.
Madison Dembroski leads the squad with 10 kills after the opening weekend and Emilia Estrada had eight.
Le Moyne allowed opponents to hit .357 over the three matches, while the offense struggled, hitting -.085.

Scouting the Rams

Rhode Island dropped its first three matches of the season, falling to Air Force, UT Arlington and Bryant in Colorado Springs.
The Rams struggled getting the offense going, hitting 1.29 over the weekend. Madi Disu led URI with 2.50 kills per set and Karlee Pinell averaged 2.00.
On defense, the Rams had three players average over 2.00 digs per set and the team averaged 2.20 blocks per set. As a defense URI allowed its opponents to hit .218.

Inside the Series

This will be the first meeting between Brown and Le Moyne
Brown is 8-18 all-time against Rhode Island. The Bears swept the Rams at home last season in the first meeting between the two teams since 2015.

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