The Brandeis University volleyball team swept through their final non-conference tournament of the season at the Hall of Fame Invitational at Smith College.
The Judges’ first match was against Worcester State University. In the opening set, the Judges and Lancers were tied at 18 before making a 7-1 run to take the set 25-19. In the second set, Brandeis started strong with a 5-1 start, but the Lancers recovered, scoring four straight to even the score at five. The Judges never trailed, taking the set 25-22. No big runs were made in the final set, but the Judges took care of business, winning the set 25-10 and sealing the win.
The Judges matched their second best hitting percentage of the season, with 44 kills and just 15 errors in 119 attacks for a .244 mark. They were plus 10 for the match in kills (44-34) and had a 7-0 advantage in service aces.
Rookie outside hitter Stephanie Borr ’22 led the charge for the Judges with her best match of the season, earning her first collegiate double-double. Borr had 11 kills, her second highest total of the season, and 12 digs, a career high. She only made two errors in 29 attacks for a .310 percentage, while also serving up two aces.
Middle hitter Emma Bartlett ’20 added nine kills of her own without an error in 19 attempts for a team best .474 percentage. Setter Marlee Nork ’19 dished out 23 assists, while Marissa Borgert ’21 had 16. Rookie standout and defensive specialist Kaitlyn Oh ’22 led all players with 17 digs.
In their second match of the weekend, the Brandeis Judges rolled past host school Smith College in three sets (25-11, 25-16, 25-11). The Judges hit a season best .297 as they defeated the Pioneers with 33 kills and just 11 errors in 74 total attacks.
Brandeis had a balanced attack with six players registering between four and eight kills. Bartlett led the way with eight, while Borgert and Belle Scott ’21 had six each. Borgert also notched 15 assists, four service aces, and two block assists. Nork added 14 assists and a season high six aces. Oh led the defensive effort with 15 digs, Grace Krumpack ’19 added 12.
In the final match of the tournament, Brandeis continued its dominance rolling past Trinity College (25-15, 25-18, 25-19). The Judges posted a 3-0 record throughout the weekend, not dropping a single set.
Sports Editor for The Hoot, Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19 had 11 kills. Oh had 24 digs while fellow rookie Borr had 10. Borgert finished with an impressive career high of 43 assists.
Bartlett led the attack once again for the Judges posting 12 kills and no errors in 21 attempts for a .571 hitting average. She also had three solo blocks. Her dominant and consistent performance earned her UAA player of the week for the second time this year. For the season, Bartlett leads the Judges in kills (2.72 kills per set) and blocks (0.80 blocks per set), ranking 11th in the UAA for kills and ninth in blocks.
With the solid performance over the weekend, the Judges improve to 11-14 on the season. Women’s volleyball is set to play their last home game on Saturday, Oct. 27 against University of Massachusetts Boston at 1 p.m.
