WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Brandeis University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at a tri-match with nationally-ranked Babson College and Endicott College. The Judges were swept by the #23 Beavers, 25-13 25-16, 30-28, while the Gulls took the second match of the afternoon, 25-16, 25-13, 25-18. Brandeis now sits at 4-14 on the season, Babson improves to 18-1 and Endicott is now 14-5.

VS BABSON 

The home team opened the first set quickly, taking a 9-3 lead en route to a 25-13 win. Brandeis held an early 4-2 lead in the second. It was still tied at 10-10 when the Beavers went on a 6-0 run to take a 16-10 lead that they built into a 25-16 win. The final set was tight, as Brandeis was up. 6-3, early. Babson rallied to tie it at 7-all, and the teams traded points to 10-10 before the hosts ran off four in a row. They were still ahead, 20-16, when Brandeis went on a 4-point run of their own, highlighted by a pair of Marissa Borgert (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) service aces, to tie it at 20-20. Still tied at 23-23, Brandeis fought off the first set point at 24-23 thanks to a kill from rookie Amelia Oppenheimer (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands). The Judges held off the Beavers again at 25-24 then got their first set point after a block by Belle Scott (Portland, Ore./Oregon Episcopal School) and Borgert. Babson answered, but a Scott kill gave Brandeis another set point at 27-26. The Beavers won the next two points to get their third match point before a service error made it 28-28. Unfortunately, the Judges returned the favor with a service error before the home team closed it out, 30-28, with a block.

Brandeis senior Emma Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) tied for match-high honors with 10 kills and led the team with a .292 hitting percentage, but no other Brandeis player had more than four kills. Babson had five players with at least five kills and the Beavers made just 11 errors to finish with a team .326 hitting percentage while holding Brandeis to .041.

Borgert led Brandeis with 17 assists, while Oppenheimer had nine digs.

VS ENDICOTT

Against Endicott, the Gulls led nearly wire-to-wire with Brandeis never going ahead by more than two points early in the second and third sets. Bartlett led the Judges with nine more kills, while Scott had seven and Oppenheimer had five. Bartlett again topped the squad in hitting percentage at .167. Borgert had 20 assists and five service aces, while Oppenheimer and sophomore Kaitlyn Oh (Santa Clara, Calif./Cupertino) each had 11 digs.

The Judges return to action with a home non-conference match against Tufts on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.