In their final two matches before the UAA championships, the Brandeis women’s volleyball team suffered back-to-back losses against Endicott and Connecticut colleges at the Brandeis Tri-Match. The players and coaches took the time to honor seniors Si-Si Hensley ’14 and Yael Einhorn ’14 before they played in their last home game of the regular season. The Judges fell 3-0 against Endicott College in the opening game and lost to Connecticut College in a tight 3-2 match as they finished their season off with an overall record of 10-22.
At the start of the game against Endicott, both teams were evenly matched. After tying 15-15 in the first set, the visitors broke away to win the period 25-20. The Judges had a chance to rebound in the second set when they were up 17-6 with their biggest lead of the game, but they were unable to hold the Gulls off as the opponent came back to win the point 26-24. Although the Judges tried again to overcome the Gulls in the third set, the visitors got an early start and carried the lead until the final buzzer with a set score of 25-18.
Despite the Endicott team getting away with the win, the Judges managed to have more kills for the game with 42 compared to the visitors’ 37. They also outnumbered Endicott in digs (71-70) and service aces (7-6). The Judges had 27 total attacking errors while the opponent only had 11. Hensley led the team in digs with 21, while outside hitter Liz Hood ’15 had the most kills for the Judges with 12. Also, middle blocker Carly Gutner-Davis ’15 had 10 kills and four errors in 20 attempts.
In a two-hour long match against Connecticut College, both teams traded sets, but the Camels slipped away with the 3-2 win against the Judges. The first set saw an almost-even match from both teams, but the visitors held the lead until the end of the period with a 25-21 score. In the second, the score was 19-14, and three big kills from Hensley nearly sealed the point for the Judges who managed to add three more kills to win the set 25-20. The Judges got an early start in the third set nailing the first five points, but a counterattack by the Camels kept them strong until they were tied 18-18 with the home team, and then the visitors broke away to finish the point 25-18. In the fourth set, both teams were tied 16-16, but the Judges took advantage of a few attack errors by the Camels and stole the point with a score of 25-22. The final set of the match saw an early start for the Camels as they scored five out of the first six points and held off the Judges until the close of the game with a score of 15-12 for the set.
The Judges saw a key performance by Hood, who nailed 21 kills for the game, the most out of all players on the court and her seventh career match recording at least 20 kills. She also had 12 digs and was one of five players for the Judges who had a double-double. Hensley added 14 kills and 11 digs, securing her 25th double figures performance of her career. Setter Maggie Swenson ’16 gained a career-high with 50 assists, as libero Elsie Bernaiche ’15 had 27 digs.
With the regular season behind them, the Judges look to make a fresh appearance in the UAA Championship this upcoming weekend on their home court. They will face some of the biggest competition in the league including Emory, Washington University and Chicago. Their first game will be on Friday against WashU in the quarterfinals.
