After losing the first game of its match against Springfield College in the finals of the Springfield College Invitational last Saturday, the women's volleyball team won its next two games and appeared to be on the verge of completing the comeback, leading 12-8 in the fourth game.But the Pride went on a 5-0 run to take a 13-12 lead and eventually win the set 25-23 to tie the match at two. Springfield went on to win the deciding fifth set 15-10 and take home the title.

Springfield defeated Brandeis 25-22, 20-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-10 in the championship game after Brandeis defeated Roger Williams University in the opening round, Lasell College in the second round and Westfield State College in the third round to advance to the final. The Judges also won their opening game of the season at Babson College to give Coach Michelle Kim her 100th career victory in only her sixth season as head coach.

According to outside hitter Paige Blasco '11, Springfield arranged the scheduling for the tournament and chose to play two games last Friday, the first day of the tournament and two games last Saturday. The Judges, however, ended up playing three of their four games on Saturday without a long break in between.

"All of us were exhausted [by the third game on Saturday] because we played two games in a row right before. ... We weren't working together as well as normal, and it was just hard to get back after the loss in the fourth game into the fifth game," Blasco said.

In the first three games of the final match against Springfield, there were no lead changes or ties other than the first points of each game. In the first game the Pride took a 17-11 lead, but the Judges were able to pull within 23-22 before two straight Brandeis errors secured the win for Springfield.

Brandeis came back strong in the next two games, however, without trailing in either one. In the third set they were aided by Springfield's 11 errors and hitting percentage of -.121.

The fourth set was the most competitive, with 14 lead changes and six ties. Brandeis had a match-high 16 kills in the set but was hurt by eight errors compared to just four for the Pride.

Errors hurt Brandeis in the decisive fifth set as well, as the Pride held a 13-10 lead and scored the final two points on Brandeis errors. While the Judges had just three errors in the fifth and final set, Springfield did not have any.

"I think we gave up too many points in the Springfield match with all our errors, which really made it pretty easy for Springfield not to have to do as much," Blasco said. "They didn't really have to earn the last game, the fifth game, because we were dead, giving up errors, not working together."

Blasco led all scorers with 19 kills in the Springfield match, while her sister, setter Abby Blasco '11, led the team with 40 assists. Rookie libero Anna Homitsky '13 had a team-high 13 digs in the match.

"[Homitsky] played well," Kim said. "She's a good athlete and picks up on things very quickly. Her goal as a libero is to pass and dig, and she did a good job."

In the team's first match of the tournament against Roger Williams, Brandeis easily won the first set 25-18 before losing the second set 25-14.

The Judges were able to turn it around, however, winning the next two games 25-13 and 26-24 to take the victory.

In their next two matches, the Judges beat Lasell 25-11, 25-10, 25-10 and Westfield State 25-10, 25-23, 25-14 to move on to face Springfield in the finals.

In last Tuesday night's season-opener, the Judges defeated Babson College 25-18, 25-22, 25-14 to earn Kim her 100th career victory. Outside hitter/middle blocker Bridget McAllister '10 had a team-high 10 kills and Abby Blasco again led the way with 30 assists.

"It was just another match for us, and it was an important match for us because it was the first one of the season; so as far as I'm considered, it is a milestone, but for us it's just another match," Kim said.

The Judges play tonight at Wellesley College at 7 p.m. before hosting the Brandeis Invitational, which starts Friday afternoon.