Brandeis Volleyball Falls in Tri-Match to Emmanuel, Colby-Sawyer

Liz Hood '15 (photo by Sportspix.biz/Mike Broglio)
Liz Hood '15 (photo by Sportspix.biz/Mike Broglio)

WALTHAM, Mass.- On Saturday, the Brandeis University volleyball team fell during a tri-match to the Emmanuel Saints and Colby-Sawyer Chargers. The Judges fell to 6-8 on the season while the Saints went to 7-8 and the Chargers improved to 8-4.

In their first match of the day, the Judges struggled to get their offense going against the Saints. Brandeis lost the first two sets 25-20 and 25-19 respectively while committing more errors than kills in both sets. The Judges rebounded in a big way in the third set. Brandeis was excellent with 14 kills to just two errors and a .500 attacking percentage as they took the set 25-13. Unfortunately, Emmanuel rebounded in the fourth with a 25-14 win to take the match three sets to one.

Brandeis was led by junior outside hitter Liz Hood (Albuquerque, N.M./ Albuquerque Acad.) who recorded 18 kills. Junior libero Elsie Bernaiche (Plantsville, Conn./ Southington) had a match-high 20 digs while sophomore setter Maggie Swenson (East Lyme, Conn./ East Lyme) had 34 assists.

The Saints featured two players with double-digit kills as sophomore middle hitter Brittany Tutalo (Johnston, R.I./ Saint Mary Academy) led the squad with 12 and rookie middle hitter Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H./ Hollis-Brookline) was just behind her with 11. Junior libero Cara Callahan (Medway, Mass./ Medway) and sophomore setter Shannon Dudley (Morro Bay, Calif./ Mission College Prep) each recorded 12 digs while Dudley also had a match-high 35 assists.

In the final match of the day, Brandeis had another rough outing as they were unable to notch more than 10 kills in any of the three sets. Colby-Sawyer featured a strong attack from seniors Emilee McBride (Strafford, N.H.) and Courtney O'Hara (Mystic, Conn.) at the net. The veteran heavy team won the first set 25-18 as the Judges committed 10 errors to six kills. In the second set, the two teams were locked in a see-saw affair that led to a 23-23 tie but the Chargers were able to win the final two points and take a 25-23 victory. In the third set, Colby-Sawyer jumped out to a 22-12 lead and held on for a 25-16 win and the sweep.

The Judges were led by Hood with 11 kills who recorded double-digit kills for the fourth consecutive match. Bernaiche had a match-high 13 digs while Swenson set Brandeis up with 19 assists.

The Chargers were led by the duo of McBride and O'Hara who each had 10 kills. Junior defensive specialist Sarah Hannon (Pocasset, Mass.) recorded 12 digs while senior libero Ally Le-Bruno (Medfield, Mass.) joined her in double-digits with 11. Sophomore setter Laura Smolinski (Hebron, Conn.) had 35 assists for the match.

Brandeis returns to action on Tuesday, September 24th at Simmons College with a 7:00 p.m. match.