After winning their 2021 season opener, the Brandeis Women’s Volleyball team competed in 7 additional games, both on the road and in Red Auerbach Arena, finishing their non conference performance 4-4. Unlike most teams, the Judges have consistently shown their grit throughout their season trailing 2-0, as they not only pushed Springfield to 4 sets, but the Judges also defeated Emerson College 3-2 at home in an impressive comeback.
The Brandeis Women’s Volleyball trailed by two sets and faced three match points in the fifth against Emerson College; the Judges, though, still triumphed over both deficits to defeat Emerson College, 3-2. The set scores were 19-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-22 and 16-14.
While Emerson dominated the first two sets and started off the third with a comfortable lead, veteran Stephanie Borr ’22 kicked off a Brandeis 9-2 run with a kill and a block assist. The Judges then evened the set at 17-all on a block from senior middle blocker Kaisa Newberg ’22 and setter Ines Grom-Mansenecal ’24. Grom-Mansenecal continued to aid her team to victory after her incredible performance in the Springfield Invitational where she had 29 assists, four kills, four service aces and two block assists; as a result, Grom-Mansenecal earned her first career All-Tournament honors.
In the Judges dramatic win over the Emerson College Lions, the third set featured seven ties and three lead changes before Newberg executed her second block solo of the match to claim the set for the women, 26-24. Lara Verstovsek ’25 had five kills to lead the Judges in the third, while Newberg had three kills, as well as five of her seven blocks in the third set.
Verstovsek, Amelia Oppenheimer ’23, and Grom-Mansenecal each recorded double-double performances; Verstovsek had a match-and career-high 19 kills to go with a career high 13 digs. Oppenheimer also recorded a career-best 15 kills and 15 digs, the third-highest total in her career. To top off the statistics of the night, Grom-Mansenecal had a career-high 54 assists along with 10 digs. Respectively, it was the second, fourth and second double-doubles of their careers.
The Judges could not carry that momentum into their last non-conference match, as they lost in three sets to the Tufts University Jumbos, for the second time this season. This weekend, the Judges take the road to participate in their first UAA Conference games since 2019 in Chicago, where they will play their first of three Round Robins. The Volleyball squad will meet Carnegie Mellon and fifth ranked Emory on Saturday Sep. 18 and Case Western on Sunday Sep. 19.
