Over the last weekend of the regular season, the women’s volleyball team (14-9, 9-5 Ivy) swept Columbia (2-22, 0-14) during Senior Night on Friday before losing to Cornell (15-9, 10-4) on Saturday. With these results, the Bears finished fourth in the Ivy League and will face Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals this Friday.
After qualifying for the Ivy tournament last week, the Bears headed into this past weekend’s matches hoping to collect 2 wins and improve their tournament seed. On Friday night, they took the first step in that direction — beating Columbia in straight sets 25-16, 27-25 and 25-22.
Brown opened the weekend with their most dominant set, capitalizing on 3 consecutive errors by the Lions to jump to a 3-0 lead. But following 3 kills and a service error by Brown, Columbia was able to even the score at 4-4.
At risk of falling behind, the Bears refused to let the Lions gain any rhythm. Buoyed by a remarkable 6 kills and 1 ace from Sophia Wolfson ’28, Brown pulled ahead 18-13.
Outplaying the Lions, the Bears advanced to 22-16 before Ally Panzloff ’27 and Maddy Smith ’29 delivered consecutive kills to reach set point. Just moments later, Elle Weaver ’28 secured the set with a serve deep into the court that the Lions failed to return.
In the second set, Columbia took an early 3-0 lead. Despite scoring their first point with a kill by Julia Kakkis ’28, the Bears were unable to close the gap, falling to 13-8. Then, led by 2 aces from Fisayo Afonja ’28, Brown launched a 6-point run to pull ahead 14-13.
From there, the teams traded scoring sprees. The Lions launched a 4-point streak that was immediately matched by 5 consecutive points for the Bears, bringing the set to 19-17 with Brown in the lead.
After going nearly point-for-point, the two teams came to 25-25. Fighting to end the grueling set, Kakkis set the ball to Afonja, who sent the ball into the middle of the court past two diving Lions. With the end in sight, Afonja delivered a powerful serve that got the best of Columbia, tallying another ace to close the second set.
Despite being down 2 sets, Columbia matched Brown’s firepower to begin the third set 3-3. But a kill by Wolfson, an ace by Smith and 2 attack errors by the Lions gave Bruno a 7-3 lead. Holding the advantage through the close set, the Bears brought the score to 24-21. Although they were able to ward off 1 match point, the Lions had no response when Hannah Flannery ’26 sent a kill over their heads and deep into the left corner, clinching the win for Brown.
According to Head Coach Taylor Virtue, the team had to adapt to a new lineup due to injuries. 2024 First Team All-Ivy hitter Mariia Sidorova ’26 and two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Jessie Golden ’26 were both out of Friday’s match, although Sidorova returned to the lineup against Cornell on Saturday.
“I’m really proud of the fight, really proud of people going out there and doing something a little bit different and being gritty,” Virtue said in a post-match interview after Saturday’s game.
But on Saturday, the Bears’ efforts were not enough to topple No. 3 Cornell, and Brown fell to the Big Red in three straight sets 25-10, 25-22 and 25-22.
In the first set, the Bears jumped ahead to a 4-1 lead, which the Big Red tied up to 5-5. But Cornell quickly outpaced Brown, dominating the set with a 15-4 streak. Afonja delivered a kill to bring the score to 20-10 Cornell, but another 5-point streak secured the Big Red a comfortable first-set win.
But in the second set, the Bears seemed to find their footing. The Big Red pulled ahead early to 6-2, but kills by Panzloff, Afonja and Wolfson contributed to an 8-3 run that gave the Bears a tenuous 1-point lead.
Cornell retaliated with a 4-point run, but Bruno was able to hold its own throughout the set, bringing the score to 23-22 Cornell. Despite Brown’s fierce effort, the Big Red overpowered the Bears, and two attack errors from Bruno delivered Cornell the 2-0 set lead.
Early in the third set, it looked like the Bears may have turned it around, pulling ahead 4-1. Holding Bruno’s lead, consecutive kills by Wolfson brought the score to 14-10 Brown. But a 5-1 streak for Cornell evened the score at 15-15, and Bruno found itself in a battle for survival.
The teams traded points to 20-20, with neither team managing to pull more than a point ahead. But the Big Red then went in for the kill, claiming a 24-21 lead that threatened to end the match. Staring down defeat, Sidorova launched a bullet to the back of the court for a kill. But Brown’s efforts proved fruitless as Cornell clinched the match with a spike aimed at a gap between Bruno defenders.
“I think we need to keep our heads high,” Afonja said in a post-match interview. “I think we ended fighting how we wanted to, so we just got to keep pushing forward.”
This Friday at 4 p.m., Brown will play No. 1 Princeton for its first match of the Ivy tournament — marking the fourth consecutive year in which the Bears and the Tigers have faced off in the semifinals. The Bears, who went 1-1 against Princeton this season, defeated the Tigers in 2022 and 2023, but fell 0-3 last year.
Virtue said the team is “excited to get back to work” and “fight for a championship.”
