WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University junior outside hitter Liz Hood (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Acad.) became the ninth player in volleyball program history to reach the 1,000-kill mark for her career this weekend as the Judges posted a 1-2 record at the Midcoast Classic co-hosted by Bates College and Bowdoin College.
Liz's teammates come up with a unique way to celebrate her milestone
In the Judges' opening match against Colby-Sawyer College at Bates in Lewiston, Maine, Hood recorded nine kills on Friday evening. Playing at co-host Bowdoin on Saturday morning in Brunswick, Maine, Hood added 11 more kills, her 12th match in double figures this season. That left her with 992 kills headed into the final match as Brandeis took on Bates at Bowdoin. Hood recorded four kills in the first set, reaching the milestone in the second, when she had five more. She finished the match with the Bobcats with 18 kills – two shy of her season-best – to emerge with 1,010 in her career, ninth all-time. Hood became just the fourth player in school history to reach the plateau in her junior season. Her current career 3.51 kills-per-set average is second on the career list, while her single-season 3.72 average would be third all time. Hood also recorded 16 and 13 digs , respectively, in the Bowdoin and Bates matches, for her sixth and seventh double-doubles of the season.
As a team, Brandeis dropped the first two matches, falling to Colby-Sawyer (25-17, 25-18, 25-19) and Bowdoin (25-16, 25-21, 25-20), both for the second time this season. Against Bates, the Judges earned their first five-set win of the season (14-25, 25-19, 25-12, 24-26, 15-6), dominating the final set.
Other individual highlights of the tournament were turned in by junior middle blocker Carly Gutner-Davis (Del Mar, Calif./Canyon Crest Acad.), who established a new career-high with eight blocks, three of which were solo. Sophomore setter Maggie Swenson (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) had 50 assists, also a career-best, against the Bobcats, as were her 13 digs. Junior Elsie Bernaiche (Plantsville, Conn./Southington) stepped in at setter in the CSC match and established a career-high with 11 assists.