The two seniors on the volleyball team, captain and setter Natalie Meyers '09 and outside hitter Lyndse Yess '09, stepped on to the court on Saturday, knowing it was going to be their last time playing in a Brown jersey in the Pizzitola Gymnasium. As the referee blew the whistle, they began their last home match of their collegiate careers. In front of a large Senior Night crowd, the two veterans led the team to an emphatic 3-1 win over Columbia, 21-25, 25-17, 25-20 and 25-18. With this win and a loss to Cornell on Friday night, the Bears are now tied for fifth place with Harvard in the Ivy League with a 4-8 record and 12-12 overall.
I was very emotional about it," Meyers said. "Volleyball has been such an important part of my life for so long. But I think it was more a celebration of my volleyball career."
The team was eager for a win against Columbia after they fell against Cornell, 3-1, the night before. In that match, the two teams played tightly in the first two games with neither able to gain a significant lead over the other. The Big Red came out slightly on top in the first game, 25-22, but the Bears had the edge in the second game with the same score. Bruno posted the highest hitting percentage of the match in this game at .314.
Tied at one game apiece, both teams looked to take the lead in the third game. Cornell came out firing and accumulated a 10-point lead halfway into the game at 14-4. The Bears made up some of the difference with runs of their own and they were only down by four points at game point. But in the end, Cornell was able to hold onto its lead and pick up the one point it needed to take the game, 25-20. The Big Red used the momentum in the fourth and last game, when they again overpowered the Bears in offense to take a 16-6 lead. This time, Cornell was careful not to let the Bears catch up as it won the final game 25-14. Although the Big Red only hit .103 in the final game, their defense was able to hold the Bears to a clip of -.062.
"I think we made errors we shouldn't have," Yess said. "Something was just off."
In this loss, Yess recorded a double-double, co-leading the team offensively along with Megan Toman '11 with 14 kills, and posting 13 digs, the third highest on the team. A big void was left by Meyers, who was not in the lineup due to a concussion from the game against Harvard last week. Spencer McAndrews '12 stepped in as setter and tallied 44 assists. But the loss made the team want to win even more on Saturday, especially for the seniors who knew it would be their last home game and Meyers was cleared to play on Saturday.
"You want to make it something special," Yess said. "We were all really excited. I just wanted to play well."
On Saturday, the team played with its best lineup. Besides Meyers, Annika Gliottone '12 had also returned to action against Cornell after being out for almost a month with a stress fracture. The team wanted to win the game for Meyers and Yess, according to Short.
"They are very popular on the team," Short said. "Before the game, we had a team meeting and I asked Natalie and Lyndse to talk to the team about their experiences. It was good team bonding."
The match started with the Lions taking the early lead in the first game at 6-1. The Bears rallied back to tie it at 19-19, but Columbia went on another run to pull away in the first game, 25-21.
The Bears came back and opened the second game with an early lead of their own at 5-0. The Lions pursued tenaciously and tied the game at eight. At that time, Brown again went into an explosive offensive streak to win seven consecutive points to put themselves comfortably at 15-8. Although the Lions tried to come back again, the Bears held on and won the second game 25-17. The Bears posted their highest hitting percentage of the weekend in this game at .412.
"It was a complete team effort," Yess said. "We just did our jobs and played the way we always played."
The third game was a close battle throughout, with the Bears leading by one point at 21-20. In this tight situation, the two seniors, Meyers and Yess, stepped up to lead the team as Meyers set three consecutive assists, the last one of which was to Yess, who put down a kill, and the Bears' seniors ended the 4-0 run with a textbook play to win it, 25-20.
"Lyndse have clutched so many times that I know if I set her up, she will put down the kill," Meyers said of her long-time teammate. "We really have good chemistry on the court. After Lyndse put down the last kill for the last point of the match, we just went up to each other and gave each other a big hug."
"In practice we do a lot of drills replicating scenarios like this," Yess said. "It's a pressure situation and we just take it one point at a time."
With the victory one game away, Brown's offense continued to put down kills on the Lions' half of the court. The Bears went on a 10-3 run to position themselves at 17-10. Brown's defense held off any comeback effort from the Lions, as the Bears won the final game 25-18. In the last two games of the match, the Bears clearly edged Columbia in offense, .300 to .171 in the third game and .306 to .143 in the last game.
Meyers showed no signs of rustiness as she recorded 55 assists and 14 digs. Yess recorded her second double-double of the weekend with 12 kills and 15 digs. Also on the offensive end, right side hitter Brianna Williamson '11 led the team with 14 kills. She also recorded a double-double with 11 digs, along with three blocks. Middle blocker Laurielle Hofer '12 chipped in 12 kills and Gliottone recorded 17 digs.
"It was unbelievable," Yess said. "It's hard to explain. We were so excited after we won. It was great to finish like that, just leave everything on the court. It was also our first win on a Saturday in the Ivies, so that was also a great accomplishment."
The two seniors will play their last two collegiate matches this coming weekend on the road. They will first face off against Princeton on Friday night and their last match will be against Penn on Saturday.
"Natalie and Lyndse had their best seasons this year," Short said.
