CHICAGO, Ill. – The Brandeis University volleyball team dropped its consolation semifinal in the University Athletic Association tournament tonight, 3-0, to Case Western Reserve University, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20. The Judges fall to 4-22 on the season and will meet the University of Rochester in tomorrow's seventh-place match at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. CST) at the University of Chicago.

The Judges took an early lead in the first set, and were ahead, 10-6, after a CWRU error. The Spartans bounced back with a 6-1 run to claim their first lead, 12-11. The set featured four ties after that, the last coming at 16-16, at which point the Spartans closed on a 9-1 run for the 25-17 win.

Brandeis again took an early lead in the second, 6-4, but CWRU answered with a 9-0 run this time to go ahead, 13-6. The Judges would claw within 22-19 on a service ace by sophomore Maddie LaMont (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge), but it wasn't enough as the  Spartans took it 25-20.

After a 4-1 Brandeis start to the third set, CWRU scored five in a row and the Spartans never trailed again en route to another 25-20 victory.

Brandeis got a match-high 11 kills from senior Emma Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury). She had just two errors in 32 attempts for a .281 hitting percentage. Rookie Amelia Oppenheimer (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) added seven kills. Junior Belle Scott (Portland, Ore./Oregon Episcopal School) had a team-high nine digs, while junior Marissa Borgert (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) had 14 assists and rookie Emily Morrison (Richardson, Texas / Richardson) had 13.

Case Western Reserve's Haley Sims led the Spartans with 10 kills, while Kate Kaminski had eight. The Spartans benefited from terrific net play, finishing with eight blocks to just two for the Judges.