For the first time in a while, Brandeis’ women’s volleyball team had a week consisting of only one game. On Saturday, Oct. 26th, the Judges headed into Boston and took on the Emerson College Lions. The group that started for the Judges was comprised of Marissa Borgert ’21, Emma Bartlett ’20, Emily Morrison ’23, Avery Donovan ’22, Belle Scott ’21 and Amelia Oppenheimer ’23. These six went head to head with Jillian Kay, Logan Steenbergen, Carolyn Vaimoso, Caroline Bond, Grace Tepper and Jessica Braunstein of Emerson College. The first set went back and forth, both teams fighting to hold the lead. The teams seemed very well matched in the first, even tying at 21-21 following a kill by senior Bartlett. Unfortunately, Steenbergen answered back with a kill for the Lions who went on a 4-0 run and won the set 25-21.
In the second set the Judges were able to get an early lead 7-5, thanks to a kill by Oppenheimer and two blocks by Bartlett. The Lions fought back with a pair of kills by Vaimoso and Steenbergen, tying the game 7-7. Following this was a missed attack by Scott, putting the Lions up by one. Emerson College was able to hold on to this lead for the rest of the set, winning it 25-18.
The third set began with two quick mistakes by the Lions, which put the Judges up 2-0. The Brandeis team then missed a serve but was quick to recover with back-to-back kills by Scott and Bartlett, making the score 4-1. The Judges were able to hold onto the lead up until a block by Steenbergen and Vaisomo tied the game 7-7. Talia Freund ’23 followed this up with a ball handling error, but Morrison achieved a kill in the next play, tying the set back up 8-8. Following the tie, the Lions had three attack errors in a row and two aces by the Judges, putting Brandeis up 13-8. The Judges held onto this lead until the end and even with a 4-0 for the Lions won the set 25-20 and pushed the game to a fourth set.
The fourth set was not a great showing for the Judges. The Lions acquired an early lead, 12-5, and the Judges struggled to bounce back. They had some great moments, but the deficit was too great to come back from and they lost the set 25-16. The game ended in favor of the Lions, who won three out of four sets.
The Judges’ current record is 4-19. Stay tuned as the Brandeis volleyball team takes on UMass Boston on Saturday, Nov. 2.
