WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis volleyball team suffered its first defeat of the season today, as the Judges lost in four sets to Franklin College from Indiana as part of the Brandeis Invitational. Set scores were 25-17, 19-25, 25-15, 25-23. Brandeis falls to 2-1 on the season, while Franklin improved to 3-0 with one more match to go in the tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first set was tied at 9-9 when Franklin went on a 10-3 run to take a 19-12 lead and hang on from there. Kennedy Surface had three kills in the decisive run for the Grizzlies.
• The Judges posted a nice rally to knot the match at one set each. Trailing 16-12, Brandeis outscored the visitors 12-3 the rest of the way. Brandeis forced FC into nine attack errors in the comeback, including two blocks from sophomore Emma Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), who also had four kills on four attacks in the set.
• The third set was close in the early going, but with Franklin holding am 8-7 lead, the visitors scored 13 of the next 16 points to go ahead 21-10. The Grizzlies' Gab Arthur had three straight kills to help Franklin double up the Judges at 20-10.
• The fourth set saw a number of runs, with FC jumping out to an 8-2 lead, only to see Brandeis score five in a row on the serve of junior Yvette Cho (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) and six of seven to pull within 9-8.
• The Judges were never quite able to get over the hump, however, as Franklin scored four in a row to push the lead back to  five.
• The deficit was still five at 20-15 when Brandeis tallied five of six to get within 21-20, but Franklin called timeout and got a Brooke Harvey kill to halt the momentum. The Grizzlies got within match point at 24-22. Brandeis held off the first, but not the second as Abigail Sewell ended the match, 25-23.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Bartlett led Brandeis in scoring thanks to six kills and five blocks (three solo). Three others tied with five kills each – juniors Zara Platt (Fountain Valley, Calif./Fountain Valley) and Shea Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) and rookie Clare Meyers (Richfield, Wisc./Slinger).
• Five Judges had double-digit digs, led by Cho with 24 Meyers with 18.
• Four players had multiple assists, paced by junior Marlee Nork (Chicago, Ill./Walter Payton College Prep) with 12 and rookie Marissa Borgert (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) with seven.
• Three Franklin players had 10 or more kills, with Surface posting a match-high 13, 12 for Harvey and 11 for Arthur.
• Setter Nico Morris had 47 assists on the Grizzlies' 49 kills.
• Libero Libby Stahl led all players with 29 digs, as Arthur (23) and Morris (22) also had 20+ for Franklin.

OTHER MATCH SCORES

• Other action from the Brandeis Invitational included:
  • Babson 3, Rhode Island College 0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-13)
  • Smith 3, Mount St. Mary 2 (20-25, 14-25, 25-10, 25-17, 15-10)
  • Wellesley 3, Mount St. Mary 0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-21)
  • Babson 3, Franklin 0 (25-8, 31-29, 28-26)
  • Smith 3, RIC 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-18)

UP NEXT

• Brandeis is back in action next weekend for the New England Invitational. They will meet Bowdoin next Friday evening and Anna Maria and RIT next Saturday.