After going 0-3 at the Hall of Fame Invitational, the Brandeis women’s volleyball team broke an eight-game losing streak against Lasell College. The Judges fell to Tufts, Trinity and the host Smith at the invitational. On Tuesday, the Judges managed to defeat Lasell in a closely contested 3-1 match to improve their overall record to 10-20.
In the first match of the invitational, the Judges faced Tufts, whom they faced earlier in the season in a close 3-2 match that gave the Jumbos the win. In their second matchup, however, the Judges fell to the Jumbos 3-0, producing scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-17 for each period. Outside hitter Liz Hood ’15 led the Judges with eight kills and outside hitter Si-Si Hensley ’14 had six digs.
The second game of the tournament against Trinity saw a close second set where the Judges almost overcame the Bantams, but the opponent held out for all three sets. The set scores for the 3-0 match were 18-25, 23-25 and 15-25. Hensley led the Judges with a double-double, nailing 10 kills and 18 digs. Defensive specialist Amaris Brown ’16 also reached double digits with 14 digs for the game.
The Judges had their closest game against the Smith Pioneers. Losing the first set 15-25, Brandeis almost made a comeback in the second set, which ended with a tight 24-26 score in the Pioneers’ favor. The Judges only winning set for the entire tournament came in the third period when they beat the Pioneers 25-19. However, the Pioneers managed to recover in the fourth set and went 25-16 to bring the final score to 3-1.
Hood put on a strong performance for the Judges, securing a double-double with 17 kills, one block and 18 digs. Brown led the team in digs with a career-high 28 in total, while rookie outside hitter Rachel Dye ’17 set a career-high with 19 digs for the match. Hensley also recorded 18 digs against the Pioneers.
After the three losses over the weekend, the Judges faced Lasell on Tuesday in an away game. The Judges secured their 3-1 win against the Lasers by scores of 25-23, 25-17, 22-25 and 25-18. With the loss, the Lasers drop their record to 16-12 while the Judges earned their 10th win of the season.
At one point, the first set was tied 21-21, and then Hood took over, nailing four kills in the last six points of the set. The Lasers had a quick start on the Judges in the second set, going 7-2, but the Judges soon recovered to even the score at 12-12 and then score 10 of the next 12 points to break free for a 25-17 score. In the third set, the Lasers had another lead over the Judges at 19-10, and managed to hold off the Brandeis team for the remainder of the period, winning 25-22 and going into the fourth with a score of 2-1. In the fourth set, the Judges maintained a strong lead over the Lasers, holding them off at 13-8 and finishing the period with a score of 25-18.
The top performers for the Judges were Hood, who had a match-high 13 kills, and Hensley, who added 9 kills. Dye and middle blocker Carly Gutner Davis ’15 each nailed seven kills for the game. Brown recorded a match-high 25 digs, while setter Yael Einhorn ’14 led the Judges with 34 assists and three blocks.
With the win against Lasell, the Judges will strive to continue their streak for the five remaining games of their season. All five matches will be played on their home court in the Gosman Athletic Center where they will be in the seventh seed at the upcoming UAA championships.
