PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Brandeis University volleyball team dropped its final two University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin matches today at Carnegie Mellon University. The Judges challenged 12th-ranked Emory in all three sets before falling, 22-25, 22-25, 21-25, in their opener. In their final match of the tournament, the Judges faced NYU and rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set before ultimately falling, 21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-19, 9-15. The Judges finish their regular-season UAA scheduled with an 8-14 overall record and 0-7 in the conference. They will take the eighth seed in the conference tournament in November at the University of Rochester.
HOW IT HAPPENED vs EMORY (22-25, 22-25, 21-25)
- The Judges held a couple of two-point leads early in the first set against Emory and were up, 20-18, on a kill by Shea Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount), but the Eagles closed the set on a 7-2 run to take the opener, 25-22.
- Brandeis took a 3-1 lead in the second and it was tied at 6-6 before Emory scored the next three points and never trailed again in the set en route to the 25-22 win.
- In the third, Emory led for most of the set, but Brandeis never let the Eagles pull away, staying within four for the entire set before falling, 25-21.
- Decker-Jacoby led the team with seven kills, while sophomore Marissa Borgert (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) and junior Emma Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) had five each.
- Borgert and senior Marlee Nork (Chicago, Ill./Walter Payton Collegiate Prep) each had 12 assists.
- Defensively, Bartlett had four blocks (two solo) at the net, while senior Yvette Cho (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) had a team-high 10 digs.
- Brandeis had 39 digs as a team, compared to 37 for Emory, while also leading in blocks, 8-4.
- The Eagles had 41 kills to 26 for Brandeis, while serving 10 aces to three for the Judges.
HOW IT HAPPENED vs NYU (21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-19, 9-15)
- The Judges held an 18-15 lead late in the first set, but NYU scored six unanswered points on the serve of Kate Glavan, who had three service aces in the string, to take a lead they would not give up in a 25-21 win.
- In the second set, Brandeis was within one point, trailing 18-17 after a Bartlett kill and a Violet attack error, but NYU closed on a 7-1 run to take a 25-18 set and 2-0 lead.
- Brandeis held leads of 13-10 and 19-16 in the third set before NYU won four of the next five points to tie the set at 20. The teams traded points before kills from Bartlett and Decker-Jacoby gave them some breathing room at 24-22 before a Violet attack error gave the Judges their first set of the weekend, 25-23.
- In the fourth set, Brandeis went on their biggest run of the match, turning a 7-5 deficit into a 12-7 lead on Bartlett's serve. Decker-Jacoby had two kills and Bartlett had two aces in the streak. Brandeis led by as many as eight points before taking the 25-19 win and forcing a decisive fifth set.
- NYU scored the first four points of the fifth set and went ahead 8-3 at the changeover. The Judges were able to cut into the lead on senior Grace Krumpack's (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colraine) serve, getting within 8-7 after an NYU timeout. The Violets snapped the streak and closed the match on a 7-2 run to earn the 15-9 victory.
- Decker-Jacoby led Brandeis with a season-high 18 kills, matching her career-best. She hit at a .286 percentage (18 K-6 E-42 TA)
- Bartlett added 11 kills, and five blocks (one solo).
- Borgert finished with 30 assists, seven kills, and seven digs.
- Krumpack led the Judges with 22 digs, while Cho had 17. Krumpack also had three service aces.
UP NEXT
- The Judges are back out of conference next weekend for the Hall of Fame Classic at Smith College with matches against Worcester State, Smith and Trinity.