Volleyball Completes Comeback in Five-Set Win at Penn

Saturday, October 4

Philadelphia, Pa.

5 p.m.

Brown University

7-5,2-1Ivy League

Penn

6-7,0-3Ivy League

Brown

Penn

Photo by: Kayleigh Halasz

Volleyball Completes Comeback in Five-Set Win at Penn

10/4/2025 9:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Brown volleyball (7-5, 2-1 Ivy) closed out a 2-0 weekend with a comeback win over Penn (6-7, 0-3 Ivy) on Saturday (Oct. 4). The Bears climbed out of an 0-2 hole to earn the reverse sweep 18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-11, 15-10.

Brown had three players finish with double-figure kills led by 14 from Ally Panzloff. Sophia Wolfson finished the match with 13 kills, hitting .407, and Mariia Sidorova collected 11 kills. Sarah Shaw added eight kills for the Bears. Julia Kakkis finished the match with 44 assists.

On defense, Jessie Golden led Brown's back line with 23 digs as Sidorova finishing second with nine and Yuna Yang finished with a career-high eight. Wolfson led Brown with four blocks and Shaw had three.

After finishing with 14 aces against Princeton the night before, Brown had eight against the Quakers with Sidroova and Yang each picking up three.

The Bears dropped the first two sets of the night and things did not look good with Penn up 8-3 early in the third set. Brown responded with a 5-0 run that featured two kills by Shaw to tie the set at eight. The teams traded points until a 3-0 run by Brown put the Bears up 22-20. Back-to-back kills by Panzloff gave Brown set point before Shaw closed out the set with a kill.

Penn took control of the set with a 4-0 run to go ahead 16-9 but the Bears clawed their way back into the set. During a 10-2 run by the Bears, Sidorova shined with two kills and two aces as the Bears took a 19-18 lead. With the set tied at 21, Brown forced a final set with back-to-back kills by Elizabeth Sessa and a block by Shaw.

After two sets where the Bears fell behind early, Brown flipped the script, jumping ahead 7-2 in a run that saw two aces by Yang and three kills from Wolfson. Penn would cut Brown's lead to three multiple times but the Bears responded, eventually closing out the match with a kill by Sidorova and a block by Wolfson and Kakkis.

GAME NOTES

Brown earned its first reverse sweep under head coach Taylor Virtue. The Bears were 0-20 when losing the first two sets under Virtue.
The last time Brown came back from an 0-2 hole was against Texas A&M Corpus Christi back in 2022.
The Bears are 2-1 in Ivy League play for the first time since 2022. Brown started the 2022 campaign with a 5-1 Ivy League record.
Wolfson has finished with double-digit kills in her last five matches and in nine matches this season.
Kakkis now has three 40-assist games on the season and eight for her career.
Golden picked up her 24th-career 20-dig game and has had 20 digs in two of Brown's three Ivy League games this season.

UP NEXT
The Bears will play at Cornell (Oct. 10) and Columbia (Oct. 11) next weekend as Ivy League play rolls on.

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.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
For the latest on Brown Athletics, please follow @BrownU_Bears on X and @BrownU_Bears on Instagram. Like BrownUBears on Facebook and subscribe to the BrownAthletics YouTube channel.