It was a game the Brandeis volleyball team would not be proud of. They were backed against the wall by an arguably inferior opponent, yet in the end Brandeis managed to triumph, coming back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat Eastern Nazarene 3-2.

We just werent on yesterday [Sept. 19], we had a lot of players who did not play 100% to their potential, but as a group we were able to put it together which is always nice, Coach Michelle Kim explained.
Brandeis started strong but dropped the first game 26-30. The second game was a dreadful affair for Brandeis;

shell-shocked from the first game, they were crushed 19-30.

One of our biggest problems last year was that we had a really hard time coming back after being down. Last night, even though we had a rough time starting, we really showed we have developed so much from last year, Katie Wrynn 08 explained afterwards.

The Judges regrouped and Eastern Nazarene never had a chance for the rest of the night. The Crusaders could only watch as the Judges swept the last three matches by widening scores of 30-23, 30-14 and 15-6 in the tie-breaker.

Rookie Piera Carfagno 10 led the offense with 14 kills and a team leading .453 hitting percentage. Lorraine Wingenbach 09 provided a double-double in the effort with 11 kills and a team leading 21 digs. Three other players also recorded double figure dig totals: Violette Ruggiero 09 (19 digs, 39 assists), Captain Shannon Trees 08 (16 digs), and Katie Wrynn 08 (10 digs). Eastern Nazarene was led by co-captain Ashley Crow with 17 kills while teammate Cristina Ludwick had 31 assists and 24 digs in the losing effort.

Although the win gives the Judges a 5-1 record, the match left much to be desired for Coach Kim;

however, she was still optimistic about the teams chances at their upcoming tournament appearance at Amherst.
It was learning experience for all of usYou cant underestimate any opponent that you play, you have to respect them and know that you have to work to win our games I think theyre going to play much better this weekend. The competition is going to be better, sometimes it is tougher to play against competition that is not as good, where they dont play your traditional volleyball, balls coming from the net, its a little bit of a messy volleyball coming from the other side and sometimes its a little bit easier when its something youre used to seeing all the time on the other side.

The Judges play at Amherst on Sept. 22 and 23. The first one is at 6 p.m. and the second is at 10 a.m.