Entering the month of October, the Judges played against Worcester Polytechnic Institute that inflicted their fifth straight loss, a streak they have yet to overcome. They are now 7–10 for the season, while the Engineers improved to 14–3. Looking ahead, the Judges face Regis College on Tuesday Oct. 9, hoping to overcome this mid-season slump.

In this game, the only match of the week, the Judges fought hard, but were defeated by a score of 2–3. The first set began right out of the gate in favor of WPI. After two kills from WPI’s Abbie Gilbert, Belle Scott ’21 put the Judges on the scoreboard with a kill that brought the score to 1–2. Later, after five additional points in favor of WPI due to three attack errors — two from Marissa Borgert ’22 and one from Scott — and two service aces, the Judges called a timeout. 

This set continued to prove a struggle for the Judges, as they failed to overtake WPI. The set was full of errors made by both teams, contributing to the points scored on both sides. Attack errors made up 17 of the points awarded to either team during the first set, according to the Brandeis Judges website. In the end, though, the Judges fell to WPI in the first set 18–25.

The Judges would fall to WPI in the second set with a score of 20–25. This time, however, there were more kills for both teams. The set opened with a kill by Borgert before WPI immediately responded and pulled ahead to make the score 1–3. Emma Bartlett ’21 responded with two additional kills to tie the game. The set would tie again at a score of four with a kill by Kirsten Frauens ’19. 

In this set, the Judges and WPI were neck-and-neck as both teams exchanged the lead. Ultimately, WPI broke ahead and took the set.

The Judges managed a victory in the third set of play. In a very tight set, the Judges emerged victorious with a score of 26–24. In this set, there were more tied scores than in the prior, with ties at scores of 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 and 24.

The fourth set would be a clearer victory for the Judges, as they were able to maintain their lead for the entire set and end with a score of 25–15. Unfortunately, in the fifth set, the Judges lost the momentum they  had built in sets three and four.

In this shorter set, WPI captured the match, but not without a fight. With Bartlett scoring the first point of the set, WPI then struggled to maintain a lead until after the score was tied at four, before they pulled ahead and left the Judges behind for the rest of the set.

Despite the tough loss for the team and another game in their losing streak, there were many remarkable aspects of this match for the Judges. Borgert claimed her second-straight double that would allow the Judges to win a set after being 0–2 after the first two. Her double-double consisted of an impressive 14 kills and 27 assists. This is her fourth double-double in her career in kills and assists. However, it was Bartlett who delivered the team-best 17 kills in this match. Marlee Nork ’19 contributed 19 helpers and three aces, Kaitlyn Oh ’22 brought 25 digs, and Yvette Cho ’20 brought 15 digs for the Judges.