Inconsistency continued to plague the volleyball team (10-8, 2-4 Ivy) last weekend, as Brown again failed to pick up consecutive wins. After defeating Penn in a five-game match, 25-20, 19-25, 25-17, 17-25, 15-10, the team's defense collapsed on Saturday as Princeton swept the Bears in three games, 25-19, 25-14 and 25-16. For the second weekend in a row, the Bears failed to perform at as high a level on Saturday as they had on Friday.
"For some reason, we just don't play well on Saturdays," captain Natalie Meyers '09 said.
The Bears opened the weekend on Friday night against Penn at the Pizzitola Center. The two teams exchanged points for the game's first eighteen points before Bruno separated itself with a 10-1 run to position itself with a comfortable lead at 19-10. The Bears' offense out-hit the Quakers .265 to .161 to help the team win the first game, 25-20.
Brown started the second game strong with a 16-12 lead halfway into the game. But the Quakers went on a 13-3 run of their own and came from behind to win the second game, 25-19. Penn's offense dominated the second game with 19 kills and a .410 clip, compared to the Bears, who recorded 11 kills while hitting only .176.
The momentum changed again in the third game in favor of the Bears. Behind the two hitters, Megan Toman '11 and Brianna Williamson '11, the Brown offense proved to be unstoppable in the third game. Toman recorded a double-double with a team-high 19 kills and 11 digs, along with three aces to clip a .378. Williamson narrowly missed the triple-double with 17 kills, 10 digs and seven assists, with the second-best hitting percentage at .372.
"Every position contributed in (the Penn) game," Williamson said. "We had every aspect of the game going for us."
The Quakers made one last push to win the fourth game, 25-17, to push the match into the fifth game. The two teams were tied early at 3-3, but six errors later in the game proved to be fatal for the Quakers, and the Bears won the final game 15-10. In that game, Bruno edged Penn in hitting, by a margin of .211 to .100.
"Penn was a much bigger team," Head Coach Diane Short said. "We played very good defense. We were able to stop their attack."
But the strong defense disappeared the next day against Princeton, who entered the game after its first Ivy League loss of the season, to Yale the night before. Though Princeton was a tougher opponent than Penn, the Bears universally thought the defeat on Saturday was not a result of the Tigers winning, but of the team handing the win to them.
"We played poorly today," Meyers said after the Princeton game. "The defense let way too many balls drop."
As a result of the weak defense, the Tigers hit .420 in three games with 47 kills. In contrast, the Bears hit only .163, with 29 kills, as the defense failed to provide opportunities for the offense.
"We had a lot of hesitation today," Williamson said. "The defense's balls were not to the right place, so that makes offense difficult too."
But the team played better at certain times during the match that were not reflected in the overall statistics. The Bears had a great start in the first game, leading halfway at 12-9. The team had its best offense in the first game, hitting .367, but was still not good enough to overcome Princeton's .441.
The team's struggle on Saturday was partially due to the recent injuries that plagued two of the Bears' starters. Hitter Lyndse Yess '09 is playing with back pain and libero Annika Gliottone '12 is out with an injury as well. Spencer McAndrews '12 filled in at the libero position on Friday night but struggled a little in practice before the Saturday game, so Short went with Annie Matusewicz '11 instead.
"We have to pick up the slack and practice on our consistency," Meyers said.
The team will begin a two-week road trip starting next Friday in New York when it takes on Columbia. The Bears will travel to Ithaca to play Cornell the following day.
"I think it's good for us to play outside of our own gym," Williamson said. "We have to show up two nights in a row."
