WALTHAM, Mass. - The Brandeis University volleyball team improved 8-1 on the season tonight with a 3-0 victory over visiting Endicott College in Red Auerbach Arena. Set scores were 25-19, 25-23, 25-19. The win was the fifth in a row for the Judges while snapping the Gulls' six-match winning streak.
Brandeis (8-1) was down 5-3 early in the first set, but ran off seven points in a row, taking a 10-5 lead they would not relinquish on a kill by senior outside hitter Lorraine Wingenbach (Buffalo, N.Y.). The Judges went ahead by as many as eight points at 19-11 on an Endicott error. The Gulls answered with back-to-back kills from senior middle blocker Hayley Janelle (Madbury, N.H.) and closed to within 19-16 after three Brandeis error, prompting Brandeis coach Michelle Kim to call timeout. EC committed a service error out of the break, and the Judges went on to the 25-19 win.
Endicott (8-2) got off to a fast start in set two. Sophomore middle blocker Amy Grigg (Vernon, Conn.) and rookie right-side player Elyse Barbour (Greenville, R.I.) combined for three straight blocks in one five-point run that staked the visitors to a 9-3 lead. The lead stayed between four and six points until the late stages of the set. Brandeis trailed, 20-15, but ended the game on an 10-3 run. Wingenbach sparked the run with a kill, with sophomore Paige Blasco (Greeley, Colo.) adding three of her eight kills in the game. Junior middle blocker Piera Carfagno (Los Angeles, Calif.) ended the game with a service ace.
In the third set, Brandeis opened with a 5-2 run that Endicott answered with three straight points to tie it at 5-5. The Judges responded by scoring eight of the next nine points to open up a 14-6 lead on a tip kill by sophomore setter Abby Blasco (Greeley, Colo.). The lead bulged to as many as 10 at 21-11 before the Judges hung on for the 25-19 win.
Brandeis was paced a pair double-doubles Paige Blasco (match-high 14 kills and 10 digs) and Wingenbach (10 kills and match-high 13 digs. Abby Blasco finished with 37 assists, eight digs and two service aces. Carfagno led the Judges with a .227 hitting percentage (8 K-3 A-22 TA).
Endicott was paced offensively by Janelle, who had six kills. Defensively, Grigg had five block assists, while junior Steph Wiese (Higganum, Conn.) and senior libero Brittany Nolan (Monroe, Conn.) each totaled 12 digs.
Brandeis is next in action at Tufts University next Tuesday at 7 p.m., while Endicott is at Salve Regina University next Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a Commomwealth Coast Conference match-up.