ATLANTA, Ga. – The Brandeis University volleyball team dropped its opening match of the final University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin of the season, falling 3-0 to the 18th-ranked University of Chicago, but the Judges bounced back nicely to earn a 3-2 win over the University of Rochester to claim the seventh seed in November's UAA tournament. The Judges' record stands at 6-15 overall, 1-6 UAA.
VS. ROCHESTER (18-25, 25-22, 15-25, 26-24, 17-15)
The Judges trailed the Yellowjackets, two sets to one (18-25, 25-22, 15-25), but rallied to take the final two sets in extra points. Brandeis was down early in the fourth, 7-2, but the Judges went on a 10-3 run to take a 12-10 lead on a kill by junior Amelia Oppenheimer (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands). UR responded with a 9-2 run of their own to go ahead, 19-14 on the serve of Lai Yuen. A Brandeis timeout halted the Rochester momentum, as the Judges scored eight of the next 10 points, going ahead, 22-21, on a kill by senior Stephanie Borr (Westfield, N.J./Westfield). UR went ahead, 23-22, on a pair of Brandeis errors, but committed one of their own to knot it at 23. The teams traded the next two points before a service error and a kill by Oppenheimer gave Brandeis a 26-24 win, forcing the decisive fifth set.
Rochester got off to another hot start in the fifth set with a 7-2 lead, forcing an early Brandeis timeout. Borr answered with a kill to slow the Yellowjackets a bit, but UR was still ahead by four at 10-6. At that point, Brandeis scored six in a row, with UR committing three errors in the stretch, as well as a Borr kill, a service ace from senior Kaitlyn Oh (Santa Clara, Calif./Cupertino) and a block by first-year Rita Lai (Sugar Land, Texas/Clements) that made it 12-10. The teams traded the next two points before a UR error made it 14-11, Brandeis. The Judges were unable to convert their first three match points, allowing Rochester to tie it at 14-all. The Yellowjackets got a kill from Zaira Reyes to earn their first match point at 15-14, but the Judges responded with another kill from Borr to tie things at 15-all. Borr added another kill to give Brandeis its fourth match point, and the Judges converted with a service ace by junior Emily Morrison (Richardson, Texas/Richardson).
For the match, the Judges were led by Borr, who had a match- and career-high 15 kills as one of three Judges to reach double figures. Oppenheimer and rookie outside hitter Lara Verstovsek (Bellaire, Texas/Episcopal) each added 11 kills. Sophomore Ella Pereira (Redondo Beach, Calif./Rolling Hills Prep) had a career-high 28 digs, as Brandeis totaled 82 to 77 for UR. Borr added 12 digs for her first double-double of the season, while Verstovsek had 11 for her fourth double-double. Sophomore setter Ines Grom-Mansenecal (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wyoming) added 39 assists and 14 digs, both her second-highest totals of the season, to post her ninth double-double.
With the win, the Judges improve to 2-2 this season in five-set matches. It's also the second-straight 3-2 win for Brandeis over Rochester.
VS CHICAGO (14-25, 22-25, 20-25)
The Judges got off to a sluggish start in the opening match against #18 Chicago, never leading in the first set as they fell, 25-14. They were within 17-13 before the Maroons closed on an 8-1 run. Brandeis started better in the second set, taking an early 5-1 lead. Brandeis stayed ahead and were up, 18-13, when UC scored five straight to tie things up at 18-all. A service error gave the ball back to Brandeis, and Verstovsek added two service aces to make it 21-18. Chicago answered with two straight kills, setting off a 7-1 run that gave them the second set, 25-22. The final set was tight, featuring 11 ties and three lead changes, but a brief 6-2 Chicago run that snapped a 16-all deadlock proved to be the difference.
For the match, Verstovsek led all players with seven kills, while Borr had five. Grom-Mansenecal had a fine all-around match, recording a double with 19 assists and 11 digs while converting four of her five attacks for kills. Lai added four blocks at the net.
The Judges will play their next four matches out of conference, with a road match at Johnson and Wales on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. and a home contest with Bowdoin Friday at 7 p.m.