The Brandeis University women's volleyball team entered the Midcoast Classic-cohosted by Bates College and Bowdoin College-with a chance to compete before the first round of University Athletic Association Round Robins on Saurday.
Little did they know they were about to witness history, as outside hitter Liz Hood '15 became just the ninth player in Brandeis history to record 1,000 kills during the team's 3-2 victory over Bates in the tournament's finale.

"It was a good, positive, part of the game," said Hood. "Everyone was excited for the game and I think that it kept everyone going."

Hood pointed to her teammates as the primary cogs that kept her going, citing the help of her teammates as the fuel that drives her to improve her statistics.

"It depends on the whole team for me to do that," she said. "You've got to have good blockers and good sets so it's really a team accomplishment."

The Judges dropped the first two matches of the tournament by identical scores of 3-0 to Colby-Sawyer College and Bowdoin, which marked the second time this season Brandeis has fallen to each of those schools.

While the Judges dropped the opening match to Colby-Sawyer 25-17, 25-18, 25-19, Hood recorded a team leading nine kills that pushed her career total to 981. She would go on to add 11 kills against Bowdoin in a 3-0 loss by the score of 25-16, 25-21, 25-20.

The 11 kills against Bowdoin not only pushed her career total to 992 kills-and one good match from the millennium milestone-but marked the 12th time in 18 games this season that Hood has recorded more than 10 kills.

Hood passed the 1,000 kill mark for her career in the second set of a five set victory over Bates in the final game of the tournament. The victory also marked the first time the Judges pulled out a five set victory this season, defeating Bates 14-25, 25-19, 25-12, 24-26, 15-6.

Aside from the personal milestone, Hood remarked that she could not be prouder to be a member of the Judges and a part of this particular team.

"I'm excited to be able to be on this on this team and do it with these people," she said.

Hood ended the tournament with 1,010 career blocks to help propel the Judges to a dominating fifth set victory, which put her ninth on the Brandeis all-time list, and was just the fourth to reach the millennium mark as a junior. With more than a year left under her belt, Hood only looks to improve from here.

"I just want to improve every year," she said. "I don't look at stats much; I just want the team to do well."

The Judges also received strong performances from classmates middle blocker Carly Gutner-Davis '15 who set a career high eight blocks in the Bates victory and libero Elsie Bernaiche '15 who filled in for cocaptain, setter Yael Einhorn '14, and set a career high 11 assists during the Colby-Slawyer defeat on Friday.

The star of the show, however, was Hood, who was honored by teammates after the tournament; they formed the number "1,000" along the baseline of the court and posed for pictures with Hood.

Hood and the Judges look to use the motivation from the millennium mark to drive them forward through the middle part of their season and beyond.

"The team as a whole has been energetic and happier this season so that's what going to push us at [UAAs]," she said.
The Judges return to action with the first round of UAA Round Robins this weekend in Cleveland, Ohio, opening with a doubleheader versus the University of Chicago and Washington University.