CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Brandeis University volleyball team dropped two matches to nationally-ranked squads on the first day of pool play at the 2010 University Athletic Association championships held at Case Western Reserve University. The seventh-seeded Judges fell to the second-seeded and 15th-ranked NYU Violets and the third-seeded but top-ranked Washington University Bears, both by 3-0 scores.

After a close first set between Brandeis and NYU in the opening match of the day, the Violets pulled away for a 25-21, 25-17, 25-13 victory.

The Judges were paced by senior Abby Blasco (Greeley, Colo./Frontier Acad.), who had seven kills with no errors in 13 attempts for a .538 hitting percentage. Twin sister Paige Blasco (Greeley, Colo./Frontier Acad.) also added seven kills. Sophomore Susan Sun (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) led the way defensively with 10 digs.

Against Washington University, the Bears showed why they are the No. 1 team in the nation by storming to a 25-8, 25-10, 25-13 victory. The 13 points were as many as WashU allowed in any set in their first two matches of the weekend. One statistical bright spot for the Judges was rookie Yael Einhorn (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West), who had five digs in the match.

Brandeis fell to 14-18 on the season with the defeats, while NYU improved to 33-4 and Washington to 30-2. Brandeis takes on sixth-seeded Carnegie Mellon tomorrow morning in pool play to determine whether they will play for fifth or seventh place in their final match of the weekend.