Hood guides Judges past RIC, 3-0, at Brandeis Invitational

Liz Hood '15 (Image courtesy Sportspix)
Liz Hood '15 (Image courtesy Sportspix)
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WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University rookie outside hitter Liz Hood (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Acad.) had a career-high 18 kills today to lead the host Judges to a 3-0 win over Rhode Island College in their final match of the 2011 Brandeis Volleyball Invitational. The Judges finished the tournament with a 3-0 record, improving to 5-2 overall, while the Anchorwomen fell to 0-3 on the weekend and 1-3 overall.

The Judges, who never trailed in the match, were paced by Hood, who recorded her 18 kills in 25 attacks with no errors for a whopping .720 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Becca Fischer (San Antonio, Texas/Clark) added six kills. Sophomore setter Yael Einhorn (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) had 25 assists and was successful on four of her six attack attempts. She also had six service aces and two blocks (one solo). Rookie libero Elsie Bernaiche (Plantsville, Conn./Southington) had 19 digs, matching her career high.

RIC was paced by junior outside hitter Breanna Boyer (West Greenwich, R.I./LaSalle), who had 11 kills, six digs, three blocks and two service aces. Sophomore outside hitter Amanda Cabral (Riverside, R.I./E. Providence) added seven kills and three blocks, while junior setter Jessica Ho (Providence, R.I./Classical) dished out 17 assists.

Brandeis jumped out to quick leads in all three sets, going ahead 7-1 in the first, 5-0 in the second and 6-0 in the third. Hood carried the Judges in the opening set, when she had 10 of her 18 kills, including the final point. After Brandeis raced  out to their five-point edge in the second set, the Anchorwomen scored three in a row, including a Boyer kill and a service ace by Ho. Hood stopped the RIC momentum with a kill, and Einhorn stepped behind the line to serve the next five points, including four of her six service aces, and the Judges never looked back from their 11-3 lead.

In the third set, Brandeis was up by seven points early after a kill by sophomore outside hitter Si-Si Hensley (Fullerton, Calif./Troy) made the score 11-4. Cabral stopped the bleeding for RIC with a pair of kills, and the visitors went on an 8-3 run, getting within 14-12 after a Brandeis error and forcing Judge head coach Michelle Kim to use a timeout. Kim's squad responded with four points in a row following the timeout, and hung on for the seven-point victory.

Brandeis returns to action on Wednesday evening against Endicott College at 7 p.m., while RIC is at St. Joseph's (Maine) College the same time.

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