The women’s volleyball team has come out full force in the last two weeks with clean sweeps of their opponents in the last three matches, going 3-0.
The start of their winning streak came against Southern Vermont College who had a tough time putting up a fight against the Judges with just enough players to field a team. However, the lower-intensity game gave the Judges a chance show off, as well as gave some younger players a chance to get some experience. The Judges set new Brandeis records in the game with 26 team service aces beating the previous record of 17 in 2015. Marissa Borgert ’21 had nine personal service aces, breaking the previous record of eight set in 2011. The Judges also allowed 10 total points in the match against Southern Vermont, which is the fewest since 2008.
The Judges carried the momentum from their victory against Southern Vermont into their next two matches. On Tuesday, Sept. 19, the Judges faced off against neighbor Regis College. The Judges crushed their opponent in a three-set match by scores of 25-16, 25-19, 25-21. The strong effort against Regis was evenly displayed, as four players had six or more kills for the Judges. Kirsten Frauens ’19 led with eight kills, while Hoot writer Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19 contributed seven and Emma Bartlett ’20 and Borgert ’21 produced six kills each. Leah Pearlman ’19 served as the primary setter with 15 assists, while Libero Yvette Cho ’18 contributed a career-high eight assists in the match. Cho managed a season-high of four service aces in the match, and dominated on defense for the Judges as well, matching her own season-high record with 24 digs. Decker-Jacoby and Pearlman both contributed on defense for the Judges with 14 and 10 digs respectively.
On Thursday, Sept. 21 the Judges played Emerson college in their last game until the first weekend of October. Brandeis continued their 3-0 wins streak with scores of 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 against the Lions at Emerson College in their first away game of the season. However, the Judges found themselves fighting in the first set, coming back from an 11-18 deficit with an 8-1 run to tie the score before handing Emerson three more points on attack errors. The Judges then found their composure and took the final six scores to secure their win.
In the second set the Lions were quick to establish a lead. However, it was not long before the Judges came back, keeping the lead for the remainder of the set. The third set looked like it would be close, with each team gaining the lead as some point. It wasn’t until the score tied at 17 that the Judges established a lead they would maintain for the rest of the set, ensuring their victory in the match.
Decker-Jacoby once again shined for the Judges, with 10 kills, four service aces and six digs in the match against Emerson. Both Borgert and Zara Platt ’19 contributed seven assists in the match while both logging hitting percentages over .400. Pearlman and rookie Megan Osorio Moran ’21 split setting duties, Pearlman with 16 assists in the game and Osorio Moran ’21 with 10. Defensively, Cho produced 21 digs, while Jillian Haberli ’19 added 12 digs to the stats.
The Brandeis women’s volleyball team are now 7-3 this season and hope to continue their win streak into UAA Conference play in Cleveland, OH, next weekend. The Judges will face Chicago University and Emory on Saturday, Sept. 30th at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 1, Brandeis will play the University of Rochester at 10 a.m. in their last game of the UAA conference round robin tournament.
