Volleyball Takes Down Bryant and Rhode Island in Saturday Wins

Saturday, September 7

Smithfield, R.I.

1 p.m.

Brown University

1-1,0-0Ivy League

Bryant

4-2,0-0America East

Brown

Bryant

Volleyball Takes Down Bryant and Rhode Island in Saturday Wins

9/7/2024 6:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Brown volleyball (2-1) lost one set in two matches on Saturday as play at the Ocean State Cup concluded. The Bears swept host Bryant (4-1) before taking down Rhode Island (1-5) in four sets.

"This group has only been together for about 12 days and we saw some really good growth happen through these three matches," said head coach Taylor Virtue. "I'm proud of how we responded after a tough opener and found ourselves in position to win two matches."

BROWN 3, BRYANT 0
Brown earned its first win of the season with a sweep over Bryant as Ally Panzloff continued her strong start to the season. Panzloff finished the match with 17 kills, a new career-high and Mariia Sidorova added 13 kills, while hitting .393. Panzloff's 17 kills are tied for the most by a Bear in a three-set match since 2008.

Brown hit .283 as a team and held Bryant to just .140 hitting.

Ella Park guided Brown's offense with 26 assists and added eight digs, five kills and five blocks as she filled the stat sheet for the Bears.

Jessie Golden led Brown's defense with 15 digs.

Brown trailed 18-16 in the first set but won four-straight points with kills from Park and Panzloff to take the lead. Bryant responded to take a 21-20 lead but the Bears won five of the last six points capping the set with kills by Panzloff and Vanderlaan.

Leading 14-12 in the second, a kill by Vanderlaan and three from Sidorova sent Brown on a 6-1 run that put the Bears up 20-13. Bryant got back within five late in the set but Hannah Flannery ended the set with a kill.

A 5-1 run by Brown early in the third put the Bears up 10-8 and the set went back-and-forth until Brown used a 6-1 run that featured four blocks coming from the combination of Park, Beau Vanderlaan and Fisayo Afonja to make the lead 23-18. Bryant cut Brown's lead to one at 24-23 but Panzloff's final kill gave the Bears the win.

BROWN 3, RHODE ISLAND 1
The Bears capped their weekend with a four-set win over Rhode Island as Sidorova led Brown with 18 kills, hitting .483. Panzloff finished the game with 12 kills, reaching double-figures for her first three matches of the season. Vanderlaan had 11 kills and five blocks for the Bears.

Ella Park finished with 35 assists, quarterbacking an offense that hit .242 on the day.

Golden collected another 15 assists giving her 34-straight matches with double-figure digs.

Brown outhit Rhode Island .267 to .000 in the first set as the Bears cruised to a 25-11 win in the first frame. Up 10-6, Brown scored 11 of the next 13 points to jump ahead 21-8 and never looked back.

The Bears trailed in set two, 17-12 but managed to come back and take a 19-18 lead after kills by Flannery and Sidorova. Rhode Island responded with a 5-2 lead and closed out the set after a Brown point for a 25-22 win.

Brown once against stymied URI's offense, forcing the Rams to a -.094 hitting clip in the third set. An early 6-0 run that featured two blocks and an ace by Victoria Vo, put Brown up 12-4. The Rams closed the gap to 14-12 but Brown quickly used another 7-2 run to ice away the set.

The offense clicked for Brown in the final frame as the Bears hit .444, again going up 12-4 early. A 5-0 run in the middle of the set put Brown up 19-8 and late kills by Sidorova and Flannery ended the match.

UP NEXT
Brown will stay on the road for a trip to Chicago next weekend as the Bears will play at DePaul and UIC.

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