Waltham, Mass. - On Senior Night at Auerbach Arena, a short-handed Brandeis Judges squad gave the visiting Wellesley Blue all they could handle before losing the match 3-0. Numerous injuries left the Judges without much depth going into the game, and in-match ailments only furthered that. Set scores were 25-11, 25-16, 25-19. With the loss, the Judges fall to 4-19, while the Blue improved to 21-4 on the year.
Wellesley jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead in the first set and never looked back. The Judges tried to come back thanks to back to back aces by Sophomore Libero Kaitlyn Oh (Santa Clara, Calif./Cupertino), but the Blue scored six straight points under the service of Nicole Doerges to retake the momentum and win the set.
Set number two was much the same, as Wellesley raced out to an 11-2 lead early on. But the Judges would rally together to cut the lead to one, 15-14, as a combination block by Sophomore Hitter Avery Donovan (Portland, Maine./Deering) and First-Year Outside Hitter Amelia Oppenheimer (The Woodlands, Texas./The Woodlands) energized the team. However, Wellesley would rebound by scoring 10 of the last 12 points to clinch the set.
The third set showed the Judges resilience as they battled to a 6-2 lead early on. The Blue kept inching their way back, eventually tying the game at 17 apiece. Brandeis would battle, but Wellesley held the momentum and finished the set 25-19.
Senior Middle Hitter Emma Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) led the Judges with 8 kills in her final home match, pushing her season total to 947 kills, to go along with 297 blocks. Bartlett is on pace for only the sixth 1000 kill season, and second ever 300 block season in Brandeis history. Oh had a game-high 28 digs for the Judges.
The Judges will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, November 2nd at UMass-Boston before heading to Chicago for the UAA Championships.
Congratulations Emma on a fantastic Brandeis career!