Volleyball Opens Ivy Play Hosting Yale on Saturday

Saturday, September 28

Providence, R.I.

5 p.m.

Brown University

Yale

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Volleyball Opens Ivy Play Hosting Yale on Saturday

9/27/2024 1:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown volleyball plays its first home match of the season, hosting Yale on Saturday for the Ivy League opener for both teams.

The match against the Bulldogs will be streamed ESPN+ and first serve will be at 5 p.m.

MATCH LINKS
Live Stats | Watch | Tickets

CLEAR BAG POLICY
As part of an effort to provide a safe and comfortable environment for our spectators. Brown Athletics has implemented the following bag policy at athletic events.

Backpacks, duffel bags and other multi-compartment bags are NOT permitted into the venue. Brown Athletics does not provide any storage for prohibited bags and/or items. Bags are subject to be checked upon entry. Clear bags no larger than 12"x12"x6" or small wristlets no larger than (4"x6") are permitted and are strongly encouraged.

SCOUTING BROWN (3-6)
FIRST SERVE

Brown will play its first home match of the season as the Bears take on Yale in the Ivy League opener for both teams. The Bears are coming into the weekend having lost two of three matches last weekend at New Hampshire.
Vanderlaan enters her senior year on college hill having been named first team all-ivy in each of her first three seasons. Vanderlaan could become the first bear to be named First Team All-Ivy in all four years since Tomo Nakanishi from 1996-99.
Jessie Golden was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Ivy last season after leading the league and finishing fourth in the NCAA with 5.65 digs per set. Her total was 1.31 digs per set higher than second-place in the league.
Brown's 3-6 start to the season is the worst start for the Bears since 2016 when Brown started 2-7 in its first nine matches.
Brown has struggled against Yale historically, the Bears are 25-55 against the Bulldogs and have lost 15 of their last 16 matches against Yale, including the last two Ivy League Tournament Championship games.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Brown has seen youth enter its lineup this season with the Bears getting consistent play in the middle and on the outside from sophomore Ally Panzloff and first years Fisayo Afonja and Sophia Wolfson. Panzloff and Afonja have both played in all nine matches for Brown and Wolfson has appeared in eight.

Panzloff is second on the team with 112 kills and 3.11 kills per set. She began her season with seven-straight matches with double-figure kills and has led the Bears in kills in four matches this year.

Wolfson and Afonja are both averaging over 1.20 kills per set and on defense, Wolfson has 20 blocks this season, while Afonja has 16. Wolfson has picked up her offense as of late, finishign with nine kills in three of her last four matches.

HELPFUL HOT STARTS
Hot starts are a good sign for the Bears as Brown is 22-4 under Taylor Virtue when winning the first set of a match and 17-2 when winning the first two sets. The only two losses were to Yale last season and the season opener against Providence this year.

When the Bears lose the first set under Virtue, Brown is 0-5 this season and 0-9 overall.

ROAD WARRIORS
Brown will begin the season with nine-straight games away from home. It will be the most games away to start a season since playing nine-straight on the road back in 2018. During that stretch, Brown went 6-3.

CLEAN SWEEPS
The Bears did not spend much time on the court last season, playing in 16 straight-set matches. The Bears finished out the regular season with 10 of their final 12 matches going three sets. Overall, Brown was 14-2 in three set matches. The Bears only went five sets in three matches all season, going 2-1.

DIGGING IT
Brown has two players closing in on 1,000-career digs. Senior Victoria Vo enters the weekend with 977 digs and junior Jessie Golden has 847 digs.

BLOCK PARTY
Senior Beau Vanderlaan is etching her name in the Brown record book when it comes to blocks. Vanderlaan currently has 353 blocks, which sits third all-time in Brown program history. The Chicago native is currently third-place all-time and if she gets to 400 blocks, would become just the second Bear to ever reach the milestone (Leyla Goldsmith '97 - 428).

Vanderlaan also has a career blocks per set mark of 1.1, which would be the best number by a Bear in program history.

HOME SWEET HOME
Brown has enjoyed the comfort of home in the last three seasons as the Bears have compiled a 22-6 record inside of the Pizzitola Sports Center. Brown's eight home wins last season were the most since an eight-win effort back in 2014.

UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS
Brown is in the midst of the most successful stretches in its program history. The Bears have had its top two seasons in terms of winning percentage (2021 -.769, 2023 - .731) in the past three years with 2022 posting a .600 clip. It is the first time in program history Brown has had three-straight season with at least a .600 overall winning percentage.

A winning overall record this season for the Bears would mark four-straight winning seasons for Brown for the first time since 1998-2001.

This has translated to Ivy League play as well as Brown is 32-10 over the past three years. The Bears have posted at least nine Ivy wins in each of the last three seasons for the first time in program history and two of the only three season with double-digit wins have happened during this stretch. 2001 was the first year teams played 14 Ivy League games, before that it was only seven.

Brown had not had a stretch of three-straight years with at least a .640 winning percentage in Ivy League play in its history before the last three seasons.

VIRTUE-OUS
Head Coach Taylor Virtue needs just four wins this season to become the winningest head coach through two seasons in program history. Virtue could also become the first head coach for Brown to post winning overall and Ivy records in her first two seasons.

SCOUTING YALE (5-3)

Yale had a five-match win streak snapped with a four-set loss to Penn State the last time the Bulldogs took the court.
The Bulldogs are hitting .246 on the season, while holding opponents to a .219 hitting percentage.
Betsy Goodenow is leading the team with 3.49 kills per set and is hitting .300 on the year. Laurece Abraham is hitting .410 while averaging 2.51 kills per set.
Carly Diehl guides the offense for Yale with 9.29 assists per set.

BROWN UNIVERSITY SPORTS FOUNDATION
The Brown University Sports Foundation (BUSF) is the backbone of our athletics program, playing a crucial role in enhancing the student-athlete experience. This is possible through philanthropic support from our alumni, parents, fans, and friends. Your gift through the Sports Foundation can immediately impact today's Brown Bears, helping them excel in the classroom, in competition, and, most importantly, in the community. Please click here to learn more about how you can support the Bears.

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