In front of Family Weekend crowds, the women’s volleyball team (10-6, 5-2 Ivy) demolished Ivy League competitors Harvard (3-12, 2-5 Ivy) and Dartmouth (5-12, 2-5 Ivy) without dropping a set. On Friday night, the team went 3-0 against the Crimson during the team’s pink-out game, which they replicated in a decisive sweep over the Big Green on Saturday evening.
Heading into the weekend, the Bears boasted an impressive 8-2 record over the past 10 matchups against Harvard, which they brought to 9-1 on Friday night when they added another victory by sweeping the Crimson 25-15, 25-20 and 25-12.
“It’s our first weekend at home, and so we knew that we were gonna have to adjust a little bit to a new environment,” Head Coach Taylor Virtue told The Herald. But this didn’t appear to be much of a challenge.
The Bears jumped out to a 10-5 lead to open the first set, led by impressive service performances, including aces by Mariia Sidorova ’26 and Sophia Wolfson ’28. After the Crimson narrowed the margin to reach 14-12, Brown fired back with a stunning 9-0 streak, which brought them within 2 points of the set at 23-12. Following a last-minute effort from the Crimson that landed them 3 more points, Ally Panzloff ’27 secured the set with a pinpoint spike to the left corner.
To start the second set, Jessie Golden ’26 fired a serve that shot past Harvard defenders and clipped the left line, tallying her 10th ace of the season. But as the period continued, neither team managed to get a foothold, trading points to stay neck-and-neck at 18-16.
Following an attack error by Harvard, Julia Kakkis ’28 assisted on consecutive kills by Sidorova and Wolfson to pull ahead 21-16. Despite late efforts by the Crimson, a block at the right side of the net by Kakkis and Wolfson sent the ball sharply to the floor, closing the set 25-20 for the Bears.
The final set began evenly, but responding to a 3-point Crimson streak, the Bears began to pull away at 8-7. Buoyed by a lethal 9-1 streak, Brown claimed a comfortable 17-8 lead. Bruno continued their dominance through the rest of the set, and Panzloff ended the match for the Bears with a spike to the center of the court that the Crimson couldn’t handle.
Wolfson, who was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the second time this season, led the team with 12 kills over the course of the match, which she credited to the support of her teammates.
“The only thing that I try to do all the time is just put my best foot forward,” Wolfson told The Herald. “I really can’t do anything without this team and their support. And them cheering me on just makes me want to do even better.”
On Saturday, the Bears returned to the Pizzitola Sports Center with an even more dominant sweep, defeating Dartmouth 25-16, 25-13 and 25-11.
Although the Bears won on Friday, Virtue said that the team made “defensive” and “decision-making” errors that they wanted to improve going into Saturday’s match.
And that feedback seemed to click. Against Dartmouth, “our communication was great,” Virtue said. “We were really disciplined on defense.”
On Saturday, the Bears returned to the Pizzitola Sports Center with an even more dominant sweep, defeating Dartmouth 25-16, 25-13 and 25-11.
After trading points to reach 4-4 in the opening set, Dartmouth failed to block a powerful spike from Sidorova, allowing the Bears to pull ahead. Over the next few points, Brown blew the lead wide open, stampeding away with an impressive 11-4 run. Only minutes later, up 22-16, a kill by Wolfson and consecutive attack errors by the Big Green sealed the set for Brown.
To start the second set, Wolfson and Elizabeth Sessa ’28 executed a block that sent the ball past the arms of a diving Dartmouth defender. Continuing the first set’s fiery momentum, the Bears launched an attack that would bring the score to 10-2 following an ace by Sidorova.
Though the Big Green put up 11 points, the Bears held their lead, advancing to 21-13. After 2 attack errors by Dartmouth, Sarah Shaw ’29 pushed Brown to set point with a well-placed spike that landed just inside the left line. With her eyes on a win in the set, Eve McLaury ’28 delivered a deep serve that left Dartmouth’s defenders helpless, clinching the set 25-13.
The third set began with a tense battle over the first point, as both teams delivered impressive digs, trading the ball up-and-over the net a remarkable 10 times. Sidorova secured the nail-biter for the Bears with a spike that sailed over Dartmouth’s block.
Brown remained dominant throughout the set, pulling ahead to a 22-6 lead, which included four aces: one each by Wolfson and Golden, and two consecutive aces by Sidorova. Back-to-back kills by Fisayo Afonja ’28 and Wolfson advanced the lead to 24-9.
The Big Green fended off two match points, but facing a third, Afonja delivered a powerful spike that deflected off a Dartmouth defender’s hands and out of bounds, closing the match and Brown’s double-sweep weekend.
“We said that we were gonna play like a championship team, and that’s exactly what we did,” Wolfson said. “First weekend at home, it’s just a really good way to get a sweep, two games in a row. We loved it.”
“We did a good job at trying to be scrappy on defense and getting a lot of touches on the block,” Golden told The Herald. “Having that scrappy mentality is super helpful, and we’ll be able to beat Yale with that.”
The Bears will face Yale on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Pizzitola Sports Center.
