On Friday afternoon, the girls’ volleyball team swept Kew-Forest to clinch their fifth consecutive regular season league championship. The win also marked their 37th consecutive league victory, 16th straight league sweep, and 31st consecutive victory at home.

The Bears swept the Jaguars two weeks ago, 3-0, but showed no signs of underestimating their opponent as they raced out to an 8-0 lead behind three aces from Niamh Scanlon. Kew-Forest clawed back to 3-9, but four aces from Gillian Bernier catalyzed a 6-0 run that left the Brook in control, 15-3. A Lily Middlekauff ace, a Lilly Keegan kill to end the set’s longest rally, and an Ella Middlekauff kill moved the Bears closer to a set victory. Keegan did all the work for the game’s final two points as she sent a blistering serve off of the left sideline before cracking another serve that the Jaguars could not return. 25-9.

Scanlon’s scorching serve was again the culprit as the Bears took a commanding 13-0 lead to start set two. After an Ava McCormick spike opened the scoring, Scanlon recorded seven aces, including five in a row, to stake the Bears to the early advantage. The Jaguars followed with their only consecutive points of the set to trail 2-13. Keegan answered with a kill off the back line before the Jaguars earned their last point of the set. The Bears followed by winning the next eleven points to take the set, 25-3. Four McCormick aces and a rocket kill off the hand of Keegan provided the firepower during the run.

Carmen Alvarez Herrero continued the excellent serving for the Bears by notching six aces to stake the Brook to a 9-0 lead in set three. Two Lily Middlekauff aces, three straight aces from Keegan, and a McCormick spike punctuated a strong performance by the Brook. Alvarez Herrero capped the set with another ace as the Bears won, 25-6.

Historic Win

The win gave the Bears a fifth straight regular season title, dating back to 2017 when they won a Section XI League Championship. They followed that up with PSAA regular season titles in 2018, 2019, 2021 (spring), and 2021 (fall) to join the rarified air of Stony Brook Teams that have won five straight championships over nearly 100 years of competition:

Boys’ Cross Country	1955-1969	Ivy League Champions
Boys’ Track	1956-1967	Ivy League Champions
Boys’ Cross Country	1971-1977	Ivy League & Section XI Champions
Boys’ Track	1975-1979	Section XI League Champions
Boys’ Track	1981-1985	Section XI League Champions
Boys’ Cross Country	1984-1988	Section XI League Champions
Boys’ Lacrosse	1994-1999	Section XI Division II Champions
Girls’ Basketball	2005-2011	Section XI League Champions
Girls’ Basketball	2006-2011	Suffolk County Champions
Girls’ Soccer	2007-2011	Suffolk County Champions
Boys’ Basketball	2013-2017	Suffolk County Champions

In addition, the victory was the team’s 37th consecutive league win, tying them with the girls’ basketball program’s run from 2005-2008. A victory at Portledge on Wednesday would close out a fifth consecutive undefeated league season and break their school record tie with the girls’ basketball team.

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