The Brandeis women’s volleyball team hosted both Vassar and Babson colleges for their senior day on Saturday, Oct. 31. The Judges kicked off the game honoring seniors Summer Koop, Maggie Swenson and Maddie Engeler for their contributions to the Brandeis team throughout their collegiate volleyball careers.
The Judges started the day facing off against the Vassar Brewers. The first set saw a strong start as Brandeis took an 18-13 lead. Lauren Ninkovich of the Brewers then served up 12 straight points to steal the lead and the first set for the visiting team in an impressive run featuring one ace and four kills. The Brewers continued their momentum, clinching the second set as well. The Judges managed to win the third set of the game 25-18, but fell in the fourth to lose the game 1-3.
Some key players of the Vassar game from the Judges’ side were Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19 and Zara Platt ’19, who led the Judges with seven kills each. Allison Hemsworth ’19 also contributed with great sets to tally 14 assists at the net. Brandeis libero Yvette Cho ’19 racked up an impressive total of 20 digs throughout the three sets.
The second game of the day saw the Judges playing the Babson Beavers, who held an impressive record of 23-8 before their match against Brandeis. The first set was tight until 11-12, when the Beavers suddenly surged ahead with a 12-22 lead. The visiting team would take the first set 17-25.
In the second set, the Judges quickly went down 1-7 due to a four-point serving streak from Mary Donahue, who served two aces in the four point succession. Brandeis responded with a nine-point streak served out by Cho, who hit three aces but ended the streak with a service error to make the set 10-8. The set would never see another lead greater than two points from either team until the Beavers took the lead at 20-23 to help secure their second-set triumph over the Judges with a score of 22-25.
The third set started off promising for the home team. Decker-Jacoby served for the Judges in an eight-point streak, which featured three aces from the first-year. Brandeis successfully secured the lead until the Beavers tied up the set at 20-20. Babson’s Elizabeth Sullivan ’16 would serve out the game, winning five straight points to obtain the victory for Babson. The final game score ended at 17-25, 22-25, 20-25.
Cho and Decker-Jacoby won big points off the serve for the Judges in the second game of senior day, both hitting five service aces to increase pressure on the Beavers. Jessie Moore ’17 contributed to the game with nine big kills for the home team’s offense.
Women’s volleyball ended the Saturday matches with a fall to 5-24 record as they near the end of the season. They are scheduled to travel to Rochester to play the UAA championships beginning on Nov. 6. The women will begin the tournament facing off against Emory University at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Emory has an impressive 30-2 record (7-0 against UAA opponents) going into the first round against Brandeis volleyball.
