PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Brandeis University volleyball team dropped their first two matches of the University Athletic Association season today, falling 3-0, to both the University of Chicago and Washington University at Carnegie Mellon. The Judges now stand at 6-8 on the season.

AGAINST CHICAGO (22-25, 17-25, 17-25)

• The Judges were close with the Maroons in the first set, leading, 20-19. After  UC called a timeout, they close on a 6-2 run.
• Brandeis fell behind in the second set early and were down by as many as six at 12-6, but battled back to get within 18-17 on a Zara Platt (Fountain Valley, N.Y./Fountain Valley) kill, but Chicago scored the final seven points to take the 2-0 lead.
• The Maroons never trailed in the third set, going on a 7-3 run to take a 11-6 lead that they were able to maintain the rest of the way.
• Rookie Emma Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) had 11 kills for her second-straight match in double figures and third overall.
• Sophomore Shea Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) and junior Jessie Moore (Rye, N.Y./Rye) each added seven kills.
• Sophomore libero Yvette Cho (San Diego, Calif./Ranch Bernardo) had a match-high 17 digs and the team's lone service ace.
• Classmate and setter Lea Pearlman (El Paso, Texas/El Paso) had 14 assists.
• Sophomore Kirsten Frauens (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) had two solo blocks.

AGAINST #15 WASHINGTON U. (10-25, 15-25, 15-25)

• The Judges struggled against nationally-ranked WashU.
• The Bears hit .465 for the match (46 K-6E-86 TA), including a remarkable .696 in the opening set (17 K-1E-23 TA).
• Frauens and Bartlett tied for team-high honors with five kills each.
• Pearlman had nine assists, while classmate Marlee Nork (Chicago, Ill./Walter Payton College Prep) had eight. Nork also had seven digs and a pair of service aces.
• Cho had eight digs to lead the Judges.