This weekend, the Judges played their last three games of the 2018 season. The women have had a pretty strong year, ending with an overall record of 13–17. The Judges  have had their best season in the UAA in nearly a decade.

Judges 3, NYU 2: 

A final victory concluded the Judges’ season with a fifth-place finish at the UAA championships, making this the best performance for the team in a decade. Set scores were 17–25, 18–25, 25–22, 25–21 and 15–7. According to the Brandeis Athletics website, Head Coach Alesia Vaccari said, “I’m so proud of the way we finished this match. NYU started the match strong, but we did a great job finishing. It’s something we’ve been talking about all season. Everyone on the team contributed.”  After struggling in the first two sets, the team came back in the third. In the third set tie at three points, Shea Decker-Jacoby ’19 made two kills in a 7–0 run. With these kills and a block by Emma Bartlett ’20 and Emerson White ’22, the team took the set in this hard-fought battle. In the fourth set, the Judges pulled ahead quickly and jumped on to lead. In the fifth set, the Judges began with a 8–5 lead and, although the Violets got within one point at 8–7, the Judges scored the next seven out of the eight remaining points of the match. The winning kill was by Marissa Borgert ’21.

Case Western 1, Judges 3: 

Friday, the Judges defeated Case Western making this the best finish that they have had in the UAA in almost a decade. They upset the fifth-seeded team in the consolation semifinals of the UAA tournament. After this win, the Judges earned a spot in the fifth-place match and the Spartans went on to play the seventh place match. The set scores were 12–25, 25–13, 25–20 and 25–20. The Judges got off to a slow start as the Spartans opened up with a victory; however, after this, the Judges took the next three sets and the match. In the second set, the Judges had 19 kills, two errors and 39 attempts. They went on 4–0 runs twice during the set. Two kills by Decker-Jacoby helped solidify the set. In the third and fourth sets, the sets were closer competition. In these sets, the Judges had 14 kills and seven errors. There were 42 attempts made that helped the Judges take the match. In the third set, Emerson White ’22 was a key to the victory, with two kills and two blocks in a deciding run. In the final set, the teams tied at 17, but the Judges stayed strong and the team  was victorious.

Emory 3, Judges 0: 

In their match against Emory on Friday, the Judges were dealt their final loss of the season to the Eagles. They lost all three sets with scores of 25–23, 25–24 and 25–23, so the match was tight within each set.  After scoring the first three points of the match, the Judges remained  close to the Eagles in the first set. When the Eagles created a three-point lead of 15–12, the Judges went on a 5–0 run that included two kills from Decker-Jacoby. After a timeout by the Eagles, they tied the score at 17, but a service error by the Eagles and a block by Bartlett and Kirsten Frauens ’19 gave the Judges a 19–17 lead. This lead was maintained until a 22–21 score, but the Eagles broke ahead to win the set. In the second set, the teams were neck-and-neck until a tied score of 10 when the Eagles pulled ahead and conquered the Judges. In the final set, the Judges pulled ahead after a tie at five points, and remained close to the Eagles until Emory took the match 25–22.