On Friday afternoon, the girls’ volleyball team welcomed the Panthers into the cave on the inaugural Fall Portledge Day that saw the Bears face their chief rival in seven different athletic contests. The volleyball team swept the visitors for a 41st consecutive league victory, a 22nd straight league sweep, and a 36th win in a row on the home floor. The victory also helped The Brook secure a 4-2 Portledge Day win along with wins for girls’ cross country, girls’ tennis, and boys’ soccer.

Ava McCormick opened the first set scoring with a spike that ushered in a lopsided affair in favor of the Blue & White. Niamh Scanlon followed with a pair of aces for a 3-0 lead. Portledge scored the next two points to pull within 2-3, but after another McCormick kill, Gillian Bernier took over serve and led a 15-point Bear surge that featured 10 aces. When the dust cleared the Bears held an insurmountable 19-2 lead that Sandy Tao eventually closed out, 25-4, with a pair of aces.

In the second set, The Brook raced out to a 6-0 lead behind three Scanlon aces and kills from Bernier and McCormick. A 7-0 run, punctuated by a Bernier ace into the deck, gave the Brook a 13-1 advantage before five straight kills from Lilly Keegan (3), Scanlon, and Ella Middlekauff left the Brook up 18-2. A Keegan spike ended the set, 25-3.

The Bears had little trouble with the Panthers in the third set. Georgia Apazidis provided a highlight with consecutive aces that gave the Bears a 20-5 edge. A McCormick spike emphatically closed the 25-8 victory, bringing the Blue Fan Group to its feet.

Scanlon recorded 19 assists, 2 kills, 6 aces, and 1 dig, Bernier 15 aces, 3 kills, and 3 digs, Keegan 1 ace and 7 kills, McCormick 2 aces, 7 kills, and 1 block, Ella Middlekauff 2 kills, Georgia Apazidis 2 aces, and Sandy Tao 3 aces.

The Bears are back on the court on Wednesday as they travel to Kew-Forest for a league match-up.

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