The volleyball team (4-8, 0-1 Ivy) dropped a pair of games on the road last week, losing to the University of Rhode Island (8-6) Wednesday and falling to Yale (7-4, 1-0) over the weekend.
"In volleyball, it's really tough playing on the road," said Head Coach Diane Short, who said her team made costly "mental mistakes."
In a tightly contested four-set match in Kingston, the Bears went down to the wire with the Rams. After taking the first set, the Rams jumped out to another early lead in the second, but Bruno rallied back to take the set. The rest of the match remained neck-and-neck, but Rhode Island took the last two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-21, respectively, to take the win.
"We were playing well, but they were playing better," Short said.
It was a frustrating loss for the Bears, despite an impressive defensive day from libero and co-captain Annika Gliottone '12. Gliottone registered 21 digs, while setter Alexandra Rieckhoff '14 amassed 44 assists. Outside hitter Maddie Lord '15 also had a big game, notching 17 kills. Lord has been a consistent source of offense for the Bears and currently leads the team in kills with 175 on the season.
"She's one of the hardest hitters," Short said of Lord.
The Bears got out to a slow start Saturday against the Bulldogs. Trouble passing the ball and a flurry of kills by Yale's Mollie Rogers added up to defeats of 25-12 and 25-13 for the Bears in the first two sets.
Bruno bounced back in the third set, pulling within three points of the Bulldogs behind a kill by middle blocker Laurielle Hofer '12 and a service ace by Gliottone that pushed the score to 20-17. But Yale's attack did not relent, powering the Bulldogs to a 25-20 final set and match win. Despite the team's loss, Short was particularly impressed with Hofer's "stepping-up" as she collected a team-high seven kills. Gliottone and Thea Derrough '14 led the team's defensive effort with 11 digs apiece.
The Bears will be back in action this weekend with their Ivy home opener against Columbia Friday, followed by another home game against Cornell Saturday.
"Columbia is one of the top teams in the league this year," Short said. "It'll be good to be home."
