Volleyball suffers three losses in first UAA Round Robin

WALTHAM, Mass. – Facing some of the top competition in Division III, the Brandeis University volleyball team dropped three matches at home in the first University Athletic Association Round Robin. The Judges fell to #14 Chicago in four sets and #8 Washington University in three on the opening day, before falling to Case Western Reserve in four sets in their final match of the tournament. The Judges are now 7-9 overall, 0-3 in the UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. #14 CHICAGO (25-23, 17-25, 17-25, 18-25)

• The Judges opened their weekend strong by taking the first set against Chicago, 25-23, outhitting the Maroons, .190 to .109.
• The visitors bounced back with strong defense, holding Brandeis under .100 for the remainder of the match in winning 25-17, 25-17, 25-18.
• Junior Emma Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) paced the Judges with 11 kills, while senior Shea Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) had eight.
• Setting duties were split between senior Marlee Nork (Chicago, Ill./Walter Payton College Prep) and sophomore Marissa Borgert (Blaine, Minn./ Spring Lake Park) each finished with 18 assists.
• Brandeis played an excellent defensive match, totaling 88 digs and 10 blocks.
• Rookie Kaitlyn Oh (Santa Clara, Calif. / Cupertino) led four players with double figures in digs with 29, her career-high.
• At the net, sophomore Belle Scott (Portland, Ore. / Oregon Episcopal School) established a career-high with seven block assists, while Borgert added four.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. #8 WASHINGTON U. (20-25, 10-25, 23-25)

• The Judges nearly took a second set from a nationally-ranked foe in the third against Washington, as they erased an early 8-1 deficit to take a lead at 14-13, but the Judges were unable to get over the hump against the defending conference champs.
• Decker-Jacoby had a match-high six kills, while Bartlett had four.
• Nork finished with 14 assists, and Oh had 13 digs.
• Rookie Stephanie Borr (Westfield, N.J. / Westfield) delivered three service aces.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. CASE WESTERN RESERVE (21-25, 25-20, 16-25, 8-25)

• The Judges and Spartans split the first two sets, with Case winning the first, 25-21, while hitting .271, and Brandeis taking the second, 25-20, and hitting .205.
• The match was 8-6 in the third set when sophomore Clare Meyers (Richfield, Wisc. / Slinger) Richfield, Wisc. / Slinger) suffered an injury that took her out of the rest of the match. Brandeis was unable to recover, dropping the final two sets 25-16 and 25-8.
• Rookie Kaisa Newberg (Reno, Nev. / Sage Ridge School), who earned her third-straight start, set a career-high with 11 kills on a team-best .241 hitting percentage. She also contributed four blocks (two solo).
• Bartlett finished with nine kills and four blocks (two solo).
• Nork and Borgert again split setting duties and tied with 20 assists apiece.
• Borgert finished with a double-double, as she also had 13 digs. It was her first double-double of the season.
• Oh had a match-high 23 digs, while Meyers had 11 digs and five service aces before her injury.

UP NEXT

• The Judges play a pair of out-of-conference midweek matches, at WPI on Thursday at 7 p.m. and at Regis a week from Tuesday, also at 7.