In the last match of the 2005 season, the Bears upset Yale in a fierce, five-game battle that broke countless statistic records and shattered the Bulldogs' hope of repeating their Ivy League title. The two senior captains, setter Leigh Martin '06 and right-side hitter Lauren Gibbs '06, led the Bears with 68 assists and 22 kills, respectively, ending their Brown volleyball career in an unforgettable fashion.
At that time, this year's captains, Natalie Meyers '09 and Lyndse Yess '09, were just freshmen. But they still vividly remember every moment of that game three years ago, as well as the incredible plays of Martin and Gibbs.
"They were great leaders," Meyers said, "by far the best players on the team."
As for the win, "there was no other feeling like that," Meyers added.
Meyers may have the chance to top that feeling this year, as the team goes for its first Ivy League title since 2000. The Bears have started the season with a bang, posting a 7-1 record, which already matches their win total from last year. Last weekend, Bruno won its own invitational after sweeping two of the three teams it faced and beating the other one 3-2. Similar to the squad from three years ago, this year's team has only two seniors in Meyers and Yess, and like Martin and Gibbs, the two seniors make a setter-hitter combination captaining the Bears' squad. With the way the team has been playing so far, the two seniors have high hopes for this season.
"As long as we're competitive and play every team at our best, anything is obtainable," Meyers said.
Both captains feel that there is something different about this year's team.
"We're very focused this year," Yess said. "We have great chemistry. We come to practice ready to work."
The Bears' team chemistry is exemplified by the connection the two seniors share with each other on the court and off it. After playing together for four years and living together as roommates this year, the two captains know exactly what the other person's next move will be.
"We are very comfortable playing with each other," Yess said. "We talk to each other and we know how the other person will react in certain situations."
The level of trust and confidence the two players have in each other helped the Bears take their first match at the tournament last weekend. In the final game of the match against Stony Brook, the Bears were trailing 13-10 after the Seawolves scored three consecutive points. At that moment, Meyers remembered looking to Yess as they said to each other, "OK, we're gonna win this." Meyers set up Yess in her last seven balls, which Yess buried on the opponents' court to help the Bears come from behind to take the game 16-14.
"I know if I set Lyndse, she will put down the kill," Meyers said.
As the veterans on the team, both Meyers and Yess want to impart a "sense of what being on the Brown volleyball team means" to their younger teammates.
"We want to show them what a winning season can be like," Yess said.
And as for their futures after volleyball, both captains are very open to considering a variety of options. Meyers might return to Ghana, where she enjoyed a study-abroad experience her sophomore year, while Yess plans to take a year off to work before returning to graduate school in either interior design or sports marketing.
But before they take off on those new adventures in life, they both have unfinished business on the court that they need to take care of.
