Brandeis Volleyball competed in three matches this past weekend at the Connecticut College/Coast Guard Invitational, competing against DeSales University, Johnson and Wales University and, host, Connecticut College.
In their first match of the tournament, the DeSales Bulldogs took a strong 7-1 lead against the Judges in the first set. A kill by Emma Bartlett ’20 broke the streak. Unfortunately, the Judges lost the first set 25-18 with a hitting percentage of 0.094.
The Judges lost the second set by the exact same margin. Once again, the Bulldogs started the set off strong with a 6-1 lead. The Judges were resilient in trying to take each point back, highlighted by a kill by Kaisa Newberg ’22, who took Brandeis back to being down only 13-8. However, DeSales remained strong and took the set back to 23-11. However, the Judges did not give up on the last two points, coming in with two streaks of four straight points to end the set at 25-18.
Brandeis then was able to bounce back in the third set. Kills by Bartlett, Newberg and Belle Scott ’21 helped the Judges take a commanding 13-9 lead. They won the set 25-22 with a hitting percentage of 0.308. Despite this late push, the Judges struggled in the final set of the game, with the Bulldogs winning 25-21. Newberg tied her career best in blocks and kills during this game.
Day two of competition saw matches against the Johnson and Wales Wildcats and the Connecticut College Camels. The Judges lost both in 1-3 decisions.
Against Johnson and Wales, the Wildcats came out strong in the first set, leading 8-2, and ultimately took the set 25-11. The second set saw similar results, with an impressive comeback from the Judges. They initially trailed 6-19 but fought back to see the scoreboard at 16-23. The Wildcats won the second set as well with a score of 25-18.
The Judges came back strong in the third set winning 25-20. Marissa Borgert ’21 led Brandeis in assists, totalling 35 throughout the whole game. They once again started out strong in the fourth set, taking the lead to 18-13. However, kills by Johnson and Wales helped the Wildcats to close out the fourth at 25-21, therefore taking the match.
Brandeis hit the road running in the final match of the tournament against Connecticut College, winning the first set 25-13. According to the statisticians, the team made just one error in their 29 attempts and finished the set with a 0.448 hitting percentage, a season-high.
While the rest of the match was extremely close between both teams, the Camels took charge, beating the Judges in the second and third sets with scores of 25-23 and 26-24, respectively. In the third set, the Judges rallied from 22-17 to 24-23. Following a timeout from Connecticut College, the team managed to find the strength to finish out the set.
In the final set of the game, Brandeis once again had two opportunities at set point. However, Connecticut College closed out the game on a 4-0 run with three kills and one service ace.
The Judges fall to 1-5 on the season and will return to action on Sept. 13 against Bates College in their home opener in Red Auerbach Arena.
