It was another busy week for the Brandeis women’s volleyball team as it played three opponents (Emory University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Rochester) in the University Athletic Association (UAA) round-robin and one regular season opponent, Roger Williams. To kick things off on Saturday, the Judges played Emory, last year’s national champions. The Brandeis women battled hard, especially in the third set, but were unable to defeat the now 12-1 Emory Eagles. The Eagles beat the Judges 25-12 in both the first and second sets, and got a slight lead on the Brandeis team in the third set which ended with a score of 25-17. The visiting Eagles won on both sides of the court. Their offense was well executed with a hitting percentage of 0.293, as opposed to the Judges hitting percentage of -.040. Their defense was also well executed with seven blocks and 41 digs, compared to the Judges’ six blocks and 24 digs.
The second game the Judges played on Saturday against Carnegie Mellon ended in a similar fate. Although Brandeis did win the first set 25-17, they were unable to secure any more set wins, and the Tartans walked away with the victory. The Judges struggled greatly in the second and third sets, losing 25-15 and 25-11. They did however battle hard in the fourth set, nearly pushing the match to a fifth set, but alas, they finished the set down six with a score of 25-19 and a final score of 3-1 sets for the Tartans. The Judges had a better offensive game than their match against Emory, with a hitting percentage of 0.105 and winning the battle of aces 5-2. Unfortunately, they were outshone in the defensive category. The Tartans had eight blocks and 68 digs, while the Judges only had five blocks and 49 digs.
On Sunday the Judges faced their last UAA opponent of the week, the University of Rochester. The two teams duked it out, neither team allowing the other to obtain an easy victory. The first set went to Rochester 25-12, but Brandeis was quick to answer back, winning the next two sets 25-13. The Yellowjackets secured the fourth set 25-18, pushing the game to a fifth set. Ultimately it was the Judges who emerged victorious, winning the set 15-8, with an overall score of 3-2. Led by Emma Bartlett ’20, who had 17 kills, Brandeis was able to earn a hitting percentage of 0.167, their best of the weekend. The Judges were also able to win the battle of digs 76-68, led by Kaitlyn Oh ’22 who had 23 digs herself. The Yellowjackets did however get the best of the Judges in blocks (5-4) and in aces (17-10).
After back to back to back UAA opponents, the Brandeis women’s volleyball team was able to play a regular season game against Roger Williams University. The teams were very evenly matched, and pushed two out of four sets into overtime. The first of those sets was the first, which Brandeis ended up losing 27-25. The second set went much better for the Judges who won it 25-18. The third set was also pushed into overtime, and once again the Hawks came out on top, winning the set 30-28. The fourth and final set was another close one, but unfortunately the Judges were unable to push for a 5th and lost 25-23, for a final score of 3-1. The stats from this game are a clear representation of how evenly matched the teams were. Brandeis won the battles of hitting percentage (0.196-0.189), blocks (18-8), and aces (11-10), while the Hawks won in digs (72-70).
Stay tuned for the Judges’ next game against Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Thursday, Oct. 3rd at home in Auerbach Arena.
