The start of the 2024 season has not gone how the women’s volleyball team drew it up. Coming off back-to-back second-place finishes and an attempt to reclaim a 2021 league title, the team’s record now sits at 4-11 overall and 1-4 in Ivy play — getting swept in all four conference losses.
Momentum appeared to be turning on Friday night with a dominant win over last-place Columbia (3-10, 0-5 Ivy), but was quickly stunted with a heartbreaking, hard-fought loss to Cornell (9-5, 3-2 Ivy) the following evening.
“Every match, win or lose, is an opportunity for reflection,” Head Coach Taylor Virtue said following Saturday’s game. “We have to not just look at the whole of the team, but we’ve got to look individually at what each of us can give a little bit more of. How can we serve a little bit better, be a little bit grittier, and that goes one-through-19 on the roster and one-through-five on the staff.”
The Bears handily disposed of the Lions on Friday night, sweeping the sets 25-13, 25-15 and 25-12. Led by ten kills from Sophia Wolfson ’28, Bruno hit .392 — by far their best mark in Ivy play — while Columbia’s hitting percentage evened out to exactly .000. Aside from going down 1-0 in the first set and 2-1 in the second set, Brown held the lead the entire match.
“I think our team just gelled really well, so the volleyball just flowed,” co-captain Jessie Golden ’26 wrote in a message to The Herald. “In reality, that’s not how every game is going to be.”
On Saturday against Cornell, the Bears dropped the first set 25-16, but it was the following two losses which proved a tougher pill to swallow. In the second set, Brown led late 22-17, but finished with a 5-10 skid to fall 27-25. In the third set, they similarly led 21-18, but closed 3-8 to fall 26-24.
In their past four games, the Bears have played in five sets decided by just two points — all of which they’ve lost. In both 2022 and 2023, the Bears played in four such sets over the same time in those seasons. This year’s team appears to be staying in sets until the bitter end, but simply not executing at the finish line.
“We’ve got to be a little bit more fierce, a little bit more aggressive,” Virtue said of the team’s need to toughen up late in sets. “It’s about being the bigger person, the bigger attacker, the bigger defender and getting a little bit more intentional in those big moments.”
“It’s important for us all to do our jobs and to stay in the moment,” Golden wrote. “We need to be mentally stronger, and fight to work together in the upcoming games.”
The Bears, who slotted third in the Ivy preseason poll, still have plenty of time to turn things around. With nine games remaining, they sit just two games out of the final playoff spot.
Virtue pointed to the season’s positives thus far, citing the team’s “really, really impressive pieces” such as consistent co-captains Golden and Beau Vanderlaan ’25, who along with upperclassmen like Mariia Sidorova ’26, Kayla Griebl ’25 and Hannah Flannery ’26 will attempt to lead the team out of their current funk.
Vanderlaan “has been steady for us for literally four years,” Virtue said. “I can’t speak highly enough of her leadership, and the way she goes after this thing … and Jessie Golden, finding a way in the back row, had 20 digs (against Cornell), which is huge. Nobody’s doing that in three sets.”
Virtue also credited the recent emergence of a pair of rookies.
“Two freshmen found their stride here in the past couple matches, with Julia Kakkis ’28 really captaining this offense in an impressive way and Sophia Wolfson coming in and being a real offensive threat,” Virtue said.
Kakkis, whose 128 assists in Ivy play leads the Bears, has stepped up taking over a role held for years by two-time All-Ivy and 2021 Ivy League Player of the Year Cierra Jenkins ’24.
Meanwhile, Wolfson’s ten kills on Friday night marked a career-high which she then matched with the same total on Saturday.
“Ten kills two nights in a row is big time from a middle,” Virtue remarked.
The Bears will look to bounce back this weekend on the road against Dartmouth (9-6, 2-3 Ivy) and Harvard (8-6, 3-2 Ivy), rounding out the first half of Ivy play before rematching against the two-time defending champion Yale Bulldogs (9-3, 5-0 Ivy).
“I think we need to focus on serve and pass and getting kills for the upcoming games,” Golden wrote.
“Overall, it’s been a tough start and I think we all need to remember how grateful we are to be a part of this family and team, as well as support one another on the court,” she added. “It’s important for this week’s practice to be competitive and for us to work on being comfortable going for it and being aggressive, but staying smart in how we play.”
Linus is a Sports editor from New York City. He is a junior concentrating in English, and when he's out of The Herald office you can find him rooting for the Mets, watching Star Wars or listening to The Beach Boys.
