After starting the conference season 1-4, the women’s volleyball team (11-13, 8-6 Ivy) clinched the fourth seed in the Ivy League Playoff Tournament with wins against Cornell (14-9, 8-6 Ivy) and Columbia (4-19, 1-13 Ivy) this past weekend. This marks the conclusion of a regular season which saw the Bears underperform and then defy expectations.
Riding a four-game win streak, the team will face off next in the Ivy semifinals against top-seeded Princeton in New Jersey on Friday evening.
“It’s been a crazy journey,” co-captain Jessie Golden ’26 wrote in an email to The Herald. “Working to get into the tournament after a rough start says a lot about our team.”
While the Bears wouldn’t officially clinch until Saturday in New York, their Friday night showdown at Cornell — who held a one-game lead over Bruno for third place in the Ivy standings — was a “must-win” match, Head Coach Taylor Virtue said.
After Brown seized the first set on a 7-2 closing run, the Big Red bit back, dominating the next two sets and outscoring Bruno 50-27 on the back of a .527 kill percentage.
But with their backs against the wall, the Bears performed at their best. Pulling out a hard-fought 25-21 victory in the fourth set and a 15-11 victory in the fifth, the Bears moved into a tie for third-place.
“You could tell both teams wanted it,” Golden said. “It was a tough game, we didn’t play our best and we still managed to get the job done.”
Virtue cited the game’s “intensity,” writing that “it truly took our entire team to get through that match and everyone did their jobs well.”
“The emotions when we won were a combination of gratitude and pride,” Virtue continued. “This group has put so much work into this season, and we have seen the fruits of that labor come together in the second half.”
On Saturday night in New York, the Bears entered the game knowing a win against the Lions would punch their ticket to the Ivy Tournament. The Bears burst out of the gate strong, fighting past Columbia in the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 26-24.
Twenty five points away from a celebration, the Bears suddenly found themselves in a 15-9 hole in the third set. Much like against Cornell the night before — and consistent with the course of their rollercoaster season — the team refused to go gently into the night, going on a 13-6 run to seize a 22-21 lead.
The Bears never looked back. With a Julia Kakkis ’28 set and a Mariia Sidorova ’26 kill soon after, Bruno was officially playoff bound.
It was only fitting that the deciding kill came courtesy of Sidorova, a junior outside hitter who has emerged as one of the conference’s top offensive players this season. Sidorova’s 16-kill, 12-dig performance on Friday against Cornell marked her seventh consecutive game recording a double-double. Her 20-kill performance on Saturday also marked her third time reaching that total in five games. Her 3.68 kills-per-set rate ranks third in the Ivy League.
Sidorova “has not only solidified herself (as) one of the best outside hitters in the Ivy League, but one of the best volleyball players in the Ivy League,” Virtue wrote. “She is a force to be reckoned with.”
Alongside Sidorova’s step forward, the emergence of a rookie class led by Kakkis and Sophia Wolfson ’28 — fourth and eighth in the league in assist and block rates respectively — helped propel the Bears back to the playoffs this season. In addition to leading the Bears in blocks, Wolfson’s .615 hitting percentage in the regular season finale helped elevate them over Columbia.
For the Bears’ returning core of players like Golden, Beau Vanderlaan ’25, Kayla Griebl ’25 Hannah Flannery ’26 and Sidorova, appearing in the playoffs has become a familiar pattern.
After winning an Ivy title in 2021, the Bears advanced to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 — the first two seasons with a four-team Ivy Playoff Tournament. In both years, Brown beat Princeton in the semifinals before falling to Yale in the Championship Game. On Friday, they will once again face the Tigers, with the Bulldogs waiting on the other side of the bracket.
Both Virtue and Golden cited the team’s resilience as the factor that separates this year’s group from others of recent past.
“This team has been in more pressure-filled, back-against-the-wall, must-win moments than any team I have ever coached,” Virtue wrote. “Starting with a very competitive pre-season and finishing with four must-win matches in league play, we are built for big moments.”
“I think people see us as the underdog, but we are accepting this,” Golden wrote. “With an underdog mentality, a team is gritty.”
If the Bears can continue using this adversity as armor to wield off Princeton’s powerful offense, they would advance to either face Cornell or Yale for the Ivy title on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
“I think we all need to maintain a competitive, confident mindset,” Golden said. “If each of us does our jobs … I’m confident that we will be able to advance to the Ivy Championship.”
“We have yet to hit our peak as a squad and that is exactly where we want to be heading into the Ivy Tournament,” Virtue said. “We have never been more confident in our identity and we are ready for this weekend.”
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.
