Since our last publication, the Brandeis volleyball team has played in three matches. They first hosted the Wentworth Institution of Technology on Oct. 25, then they traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a University Athletic Association (UAA) round robin tournament. The Judges came away from this set of games having improved their record by two wins as they only lost one of these three matches. Their season record is now 14-11, and 1-6 for UAA games.
To start off the match recaps, the Judges captured a five-set win against the Wentworth Leopards. The Judges started off this match strong as they won both of the first two sets, however, they let off the gas and allowed the Leopards to catch up and win the third and fourth sets of the match. This brought the two-hour and 26 minute match into its fifth set, which the Judges came away victorious from, out-scoring Wentworth 15-10. This match was exceptionally exciting for the Judges as senior Lara Verstovsek ’25 delivered a career-high 26 kills. Julia Liang also had an exciting match as she earned points off of six of her eight attempted kills. She also had 33 assists.
Moving on to their games on the road, the Judges first faced the #5-ranked Emory University Eagles. The Judges made an effort to set the tone as they won the first set of the match, though it seemed as though the Eagles were using that set as a warm-up as they went on to win the following three sets and ultimately win the game in four sets. Despite their loss, the Judges still had some notable performances. First, Verstovsek ’25 led the Judges with 11 kills, Liang ’26 had 19 assists and Ava Ferrigno ’27 had a match-high 27 digs.
In their most recent match, the Judges faced the University of Rochester Yellowjackets. This was just a few hours after their match against Emory. During that brief intermission, the Judges harnessed the necessary energy to go into the match hungry for a win. This worked well for them as they won this match in just three quick sets. There was some fluctuation in the lead during the second set, but the Judges had an exciting comeback that allowed them to win the set.
With this win against Rochester, the Judges captured their first UAA win of the season. Additionally, they now are avoiding a match against Emory in the first round of the UAA tournament, and will face either Washington University in Saint Louis (WashU), Case Western Reserve or Carnegie Mellon instead. This is all dependent on how the remainder of the regular-season matches unfold.
Looking ahead, the Judges will be facing Clark University and the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut before heading to Rochester, New York for the UAA tournament.
