A team effort helped propel the volleyball squad to its first win of the season on Wednesday, defeating the University of Rhode Island 3-1 to snap a seven-match losing streak. The Bears were especially dominant in the clinching game, trouncing the Rams 30-16 while recording a .481 hitting percentage.
"It was great," said tri-captain Leigh Martin '06. "It was a huge confidence booster to know that we could pull out a win."
Martin knew the Bears were out to do something special as soon as the team arrived in Kingston.
"When we got there we were full of energy," she said. "Our warm-up was great. We all wanted to win and we just pushed through."
Brown came out firing, winning the first game 30-21. The Bears recorded 11 kills against seven errors compared to eight and 10 for the Rams.
"We came out really strong and dominated right away," Martin said. "We won the game, but we felt like they just made more errors than they did."
But the easy victory in the first game might have given the Bears the false impression that the Rams were pushovers. In the second game URI came back to even the match at 1-1 with a 30-26 victory.
"URI got off to a rocky start," said tri-captain Shawn Tulac '07. "The second game they showed up and we didn't expect that."
Caught off guard by URI, the Bears struggled, committing 12 errors and registering only 10 kills.
"The second game we lost due to our own mistakes," said tri-captain Lauren Gibbs '06. "It's one thing to get beaten by a team, it's another thing to lose because of your mistakes."
With the match tied, the third game was crucial for Brown. A victory would put the Bears tantalizingly close to their first victory, whereas a loss would put them in a hole in front of a hostile crowd. Still, the team was unfazed.
"There wasn't that pressure," Tulac said. "It was like, 'We're winning this one.' We didn't ever doubt that."
"Our (Head) Coach (Diane Short) told us that we knew what we can do and we needed to fight and show them what we're made of," Martin said.
The team took the message to heart, recording 17 kills on 45 attempts en route to a 30-25 victory.
"After flip-flopping (the first two games), we had the momentum," Tulac said. "And we said, 'Let's not give them a chance to get it back.' We just had to keep the same energy."
Gibbs echoed the importance of keeping the momentum on the Bears' side of the net.
"They were trying to get fired up, so we needed to crush that enthusiasm," she said. "We knew we had to be more excited than they were."
Again the team came through, winning the game 30-16. Committing just two errors, the team notched 15 kills for a .481 hitting percentage, double its combined percentages for the first three games.
"Everybody felt it, and everybody was invested in the game," Tulac said. "We were all on the same page at the same time."
"That was definitely our most consistent game," Martin said. "We were so consistent about not making errors and being smart (with the ball). If you are consistent, you win in the Ivy League."
Such a unified effort produced very balanced scoring for the Bears, as Gibbs, Tulac, Rikki Baldwin '07 and Julie Mandolini-Trummel '08 all recorded double digit kills. Martin was especially pleased with the play of Mandolini-Trummel, crediting her for opening up opportunities for other hitters.
"Mandolini-Trummel had a great game," she said. "She was our go-to player for a while. Her defense really picked it up. She was getting blocked, but she had a pretty important role, letting Shawn and Lauren get kills.
The Bears also had solid contributions from Katie Lapinski '08, who had four service aces and 11 digs, and Natalie Meyers '09, who Martin said played outstanding back row defense, especially in the last two games.
Not to be overlooked was Martin, who recorded a match-high 40 assists to go along with nine digs.
With the first win out of the way, the team will return home to Providence this weekend for the Brown Invitational. The Bears face a tough test in the first game, taking on No. 17 Santa Clara University at 7 p.m.
"We need to continue with what we've got," Tulac said. "We're going to be home, we're going to have fans and we're going to explode on that."
