It was a weekend of highs and lows for the volleyball team at the Hall of Fame Tournament. The Judges reached the semifinals of the event for the first time in school history, but after two close losses in rematches against Williams College and Tufts University Saturday, they were forced to settle for fourth place.Brandeis is now 20-8 this season following Friday's victories over Colby College and host Amherst College.

Though the Judges lost their final two matches, it was an otherwise historic weekend for the team. Their fourth-place finish was their highest ever at the tournament, and they also clinched back-to-back 20-win seasons.

In the semifinals, the Judges faced Williams for the second time this season. They defeated the Ephs 3-2 Sept. 15, but nearly blew a 2-0 lead in doing so. Brandeis took a 2-1 lead this time, but couldn't put Williams away, losing the last two games and the match, 26-30, 30-25, 23-30, 30-28, 15-11.

"I think our hitters became a little bit tentative," coach Michelle Kim said. "We had a chance in the fourth game to put [Williams] away, and we weren't able to do that."

Outside hitter Lorraine Wingenbach '09 had 31 kills, 16 digs, four blocks and three service aces in the match, and setter Abby Blasco '11 had a career-high 64 assists. Defensively, libero Violette Ruggiero '09 led the Judges with 24 digs.

After losing to Williams, the Judges faced Tufts, another familiar foe, in the third-place game. Tufts snapped the Judges' 17-match home winning streak Oct. 9 and once again defeated Brandeis in four close games, winning 30-20, 28-30, 30-28, 30-28.

Middle blocker Bridget McAllister '11 and outside position player Ashley Powers '08 each had double-doubles, with McAllister recording 13 kills and 11 digs, and Powers notching 11 kills and 12 digs. Ruggiero led the squad again defensively with 20 digs.

Ruggiero said Tufts was able to find the gaps in the Judges' backline on defense.

"I think they kept going for the weaknesses in our defense," she said. "They could see where the holes [were]."

The Judges went 2-0 Friday to reach the semifinals. In their second game of the night, they avenged one of their losses earlier in the year by beating Amherst 30-24, 32-30, 28-30, 29-31, 15-10. Though the Judges again had trouble putting the game away, it was still a marked improvement over their previous contest against Amherst, when the Lord Jeffs swept the Judges 3-0 at the Amherst Classic Sept. 21.

"When we played them the first time, I don't think we played as well as we could have," Wingenbach said. "We knew that we could beat them, so we wanted to do it."

Blasco led the team with 62 assists and added 12 digs, while Wingenbach contributed 27 kills to lead the offense. Defensively, Ruggiero had 34 digs, while Wingenbach added 17.

Kim said one of the keys to the Amherst victory was a defensive scheme change. In the teams' first match, the Lord Jeffs' outside hitters attacked mostly down the line, so this time the Judges adjusted and set up more defenders to cover that area.

"Every defensive system has its pluses and minuses, so we sort of gambled with that too, but it worked to our advantage," Kim said.

The team got started on the right foot Friday with an easy 30-13, 30-13, 30-20 win over Colby College. Wingenbach led the way with 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage, while rookie outside hitter Elizabeth Villalino '11 added seven kills and a .350 percentage. Blasco had another double-double with 34 assists and 12 digs, and Ruggiero contributed 14 digs on defense.

Though the Judges had trouble closing out matches this week, Kim said that is just one of the general tendencies of volleyball games. She cited the team's 3-2 comeback victory over Carnegie Mellon University Oct. 13 as an example.

"[In] a volleyball game in general, there is definitely a momentum swing," she said. "The best thing to do is to try to remain as consistent as possible and stay aggressive."

The Judges next host the Judges Classic tournament Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.