Brown finished off this weekend's Brown Invitational, 2-1, after a two-match sweep of Holy Cross and a five-set loss to Stony Brook. The Bears advanced to 3-6 on the season.
Friday night resulted in a taxing split for the Bears as both matches were decided in a fifth set.
Stony Brook came out strong in the Bears' first match, winning the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-19. But the Bruno rallied back in the third, overcoming Stony Brook, 25-23, to pull within one set of the Seawolves.
In what was indisputably the most exciting set of the weekend, the fourth set saw nine ties and four lead changes. Bruno narrowly defeated Stony Brook 27-25 in a grueling battle to push the match into the fifth. The Seawolves, however, out-scored Brown 15-12 for the victory.
"While I am happy with the overall outcome of this weekend, of course I would have liked to close out that fifth game against Stony Brook and have yet another win under our belts," said Brianna Williamson '11. "We need to keep working hard and improving."
Following the disappointing end to the Stony Brook match, the Bears were back in action less than an hour later in a back-and-forth battle against Holy Cross. After defeat in the first set 25-22, Brown captured the second set 25-19 and the third 25-14. With the Bears leading 2-1, the Crusaders fought back in the fourth winning 25-19. The Bears rallied with an early 7-1 lead in the fifth to capture a 15-9 win for a final victory over Holy Cross, 3-2.
Spencer McAndrews '12, stepping into the setter position after an injury to a teammate, rounded out the evening with an impressive 89 assists, 16 digs, four kills and six blocks.
Captain Moira Gallagher '10 led the Bears with a personal season-high 16 kills and 10 digs against Stony Brook, following up with another 10 kills and four digs against Holy Cross. Williamson combined for 25 kills and 27 digs as Carly Cotton '13 totaled 24 digs in each match.
Again the Bears were back in action the following day, taking their second victory against Holy Cross, 3-1. Williamson led Brown with a game-high 17 kills and 17 digs.
Bruno came out strong in the first set, defeating the Crusaders 25-22, but was out-hit in the second, falling 25-20. Brown quickly retaliated with a decisive 25-13 victory in the third with a .300 hitting percentage compared to the Crusaders' .029. Brown ended the match with a 25-21 fourth set victory, and finished 2-0 against Holy Cross.
Again McAndrews had a great performance as setter, with a match-high 51 assists, six digs and four blocks. Megan Toman '11 added to the Bears' success with 15 kills and eight digs, as Cotton earned a match-high 18 digs.
"We have had so many people step up time and time again, and I think that we're doing a really fantastic job of supporting each other, as well as being confident in ourselves," Gallagher said. "We've hit some bumps in the road, but we all have great attitudes and are finally coming together as a cohesive unit."
The Bears will compete Saturday at the Bryant Invitational as they take on Howard at 10 a.m. and Bryant at 4 p.m.
