HARTFORD, Conn. – The Brandeis University volleyball team dropped two of its three matches at the Trinity College Invitational this weekend. The Judges fell to the host Bantams on Friday evening in three sets. Brandeis bounced back to defeat Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday morning in a sweep, but coach Alesia Vaccari's squad couldn't quite complete a comeback against Western New England University, going the distance before falling 15-7 in the fifth set.
Against Trinity, the Judges played well in a 25-18, 25-19, 25-20 defeat. Brandeis hit a respectable .193 as a team (34 K-12 E-114 TA), but the Bantams were successful at a .261 clip (41 K-11 E-119 TA). The Judges were paced by 10 kills from rookie Jessie Moore, tying her career-best set in the team's first match of the season. Junior Summer Koop (Long Valley, N.J. / West Morris Central) connected at a team-best .471 clip (9 K-1 E-17 TA) , while classmate Maddie Engeler (Sandusky, Ohio/St. Mary Catholic Central) had seven kills and just one error in 17 attempts for a .353 hitting percentage. Three players reached double figures in digs for Brandeis, with senior Shemira Pennyman (Meridan, Conn./Francis T. Maloney) setting a new career-best with 19. Senior defensive specialist Elsie Bernaiche (Plantsville, Conn./Southington) added 13, while classmate Liz Hood (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Acad.) added 10. Engeler was also terrific defensively at the net, with three solo blocks and two block assists.
Brandeis bounced back the next day to defeat Eastern Connecticut State University, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23. As a team, the Judges brought their hitting percentage up to .240 (40 K-16 E-100 TA). Engeler was the star of the match for the Judges with 12 kills and three errors in 21 attempts for a .429 hitting percentage. She also had two blocks (one solo). Hood contributed nine kills, while Koop and Moore each had eight. Rookie setter Julie Kim (Fullerton, Calif./Troy) added her first collegiate double-double with 31 assists and 10 digs. Bernaiche had a team-high 12 digs, while Pennyman had 11.
In the final match of the day, the Judges twice fell behind by a set, only to tie it before Western New England pulled it out. The final scores were 25-17, 13-25, 25-10, 20-25, 15-7. As the set scores indicate, the Judges were outstanding offensively in the second and fourth sets, hitting .407 in both. Unfortunately, their hitting percentage sunk below .100 in the three sets they dropped to the Golden Bears. Hood had the squad's top kill total with 13, her second match in double figures of the season. Engeler added 12 kills and a team-best .381 hitting percentage. Pennyman upped her career-high with 20 digs, while Koop, Moore and Engeler each had two blocks.
Brandeis returns home for their next two matches, taking on Wheaton College Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Emerson College Thursday at 7.