Since our last publication, the volleyball team has played two matches. Both were away at the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) in New London, Connecticut, held on Saturday, Nov. 9. The USCGA hosted both our Judges and the Clark University Cougars in a tri-team event. The Judges came away from this double-header with their first winning record since 2017 as their current overall season record is 16-11 and is 1-6 against fellow University Athletic Association (UAA) Conference competitors. Additionally, senior Lara Verstovsek ’25 established a new school record with 25 kills in a three-set match; most ever in Judges history.
In the Judges’ first match of the day, they faced the Clark University Cougars. They got off to a fairly slow start as the Cougars came away with a 23-25 win in the first set. The Cougars led by as much as eight points during this set, yet the Judges worked together and rallied to gain their footing and close in on the Cougars and get the set score to 22-21. They were able to score 11 of the 13 points following their turning point; however, the Cougars answered with a 4-1 run to win the first set. After this rocky first set, the Judges went on to triumphantly win the following three sets. During the second set, they never trailed once, and won 25-17 as they seemingly silenced their competitors. During the third set, the Judges were led by Julia Liang ’26, who served an 8-0 run with six serving aces which set the tone. The rest of the set was followed by more of the same dominance by the Judges as they won 25-15, outscoring the Cougars by two more points than the previous set. During the fourth and final set of the match, the Judges never trailed, and subsequently finished with a score of 25-12 against the Cougars. This secured the Judges their first win of the day.
In their second match in New London, the Judges faced the hosting USCGA Bears. The Judges followed a similar pattern to how they won their previous match, though this time they clenched the win in just three sets. They extended their dominance sequentially through winning each set by a greater point margin each time. They ultimately win their sets in scores of 25-21, 25-19 and 25-17. Though their win was exciting as it solidified their winning season record as previously noted, the real story of the match was Verstovsek’s ’25 historical performance. She went on to break her own school record that she previously set against Rodger Williams University back in September. With her 25 kills in three sets, Verstovsek ’25 earned more than half of the Judges’ 46 match kills, and only five fewer kills than the entire USCGA roster. With this record-breaking match, Verstovsek ’25 has placed herself second on the list of total kills within Division III Volleyball this season, only trailing an athlete from Connecticut College who has 30. Additionally, Verstovsek ’25 was also named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III National Player of the week. This is the first time that the Brandeis Volleyball program has ever had an athlete awarded this honor.
With this highly successful weekend, the Judges are hoping to take that momentum and bring it to the 2024 UAA Tournament this weekend at the University of Rochester in New York. The tournament will begin on Nov. 15 and continue through the weekend.
