This past Saturday, the women’s volleyball enjoyed a trip to Salem, MA, after sweeping Bridgewater State and Salem State, just in time for Halloween. The Judges will go into their last tournament of the season this weekend with an overall record of 15-1, the program’s first winning season since 2012.
The Judges started the day against Bridgewater State University, with a 3-0 victory by set scores of 25-11, 25-16, 25-19. The Judges came out strong against their opponent, with a 14-5 lead in the first set. They continued their lead for the set when Marlee Nork ’19 snagged three straight service aces. The Hoot’s own Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19 clinched the win for Brandeis with back to back kills for the last two points of the set. The second set played out similarly, with an early lead and strong hitting. However this time, the Judges let their opponents take the lead with six straight errors, before pulling ahead again at 15-12 and sailing to victory. The final set of the game Bridgewater took the early lead, but the Judges quickly tied up the game before eventually securing the win.
The Judges put forward a strong all around performance against Bridgewater. Emma Bartlett ’20 contributed an outstanding 11 kills on 18 attempts, while Clare Meyers ’21 and Decker-Jacoby added seven kills each to the win. Leah Pearlman ’19 led the Judges in assists with a game high 15. To add to the Judges’ offense, Nork produced four service aces, while Meyers had three. The Judges’ overall aces dwarfed their opponents, with 15 to Bridgewater’s two.
The Judges came out strong on the defensive end, as well. Brandeis earned 40 digs compared to Bridgewater State’s 26 digs in the match. Libero Yvette Cho ’19 produced the team high 10 digs, while Meyers and Decker-Jacoby followed close behind with eight and six respectfully.
The second game of the day for the Judges was against Salem State. The women’s volleyball team beat Salem State 3-0 by set score of 25-23, 26-24, 25-22. All three sets remained close, with the two teams neck and neck throughout the match.
Salem State appeared evenly matched with the Judges, going into the day with a 11-13 overall record. The Judges stood their ground with a .243 hitting percentage. Nork handled the setting against Salem, with 15 assists in the match, while Marissa Borgert ’21 contributed 11 assists in the game. Decker-Jacoby provided an incredible performance for the Judges, with a match-high 16 kills, while Meyers and Borgert earned 10 and nine kills respectively.
On the defensive end, Grace Krumpack ’19 led the team in digs with 20, nearly 40 percent of the team’s total for the match. Meanwhile, Brandeis earned 50 digs as a team, compared to Salem State’s 41 digs.
The Brandeis women’s volleyball team will head down to Atlanta, GA, this Friday and Saturday for the UAA Tournament. The Judges will play Carnegie Mellon on Friday, and either Case Western Reserve or Emory in their last regular season tournament of the season.
