The Judges continued to struggle this week, as the volleyball team is now in the middle of a four-game losing streak. Over the course of this season so far, the team has failed to win more than one consecutive game and has an overall record of 4–14. This week, the Judges faced Babson College and Endicott College, both on Saturday.

Babson 3, Judges 0

The Judges were unable to win a single set against the Babson Beavers. With set scores of 13–25, 16–25 and 28–30, only once did the Judges get anywhere close to proving victorious over the Beavers. In the first set, although the Judges scored the first point as a service ace from Belle Scott ’21, the Beavers responded quickly and scored the set’s next four points. After a kill by Maddie LaMont ’22 brought the Judges to three points, Babson scored the next five points of the game bringing the score to 3–9. While the Judges periodically were able to muster up an occasional point, they never were able to pull ahead again. The closest the Judges were able to get in the rest of this set was being six points behind the Beavers, which happened twice.

In the second set, the Judges began with a more optimistic stride. In fact, a kill by Emma Bartlett ’20 brought the set score to 4–2. However, Babson powered forward and took the lead after their own kill by Gaby Miller put the Beavers ahead at 4–5. After this, the Beavers never lost their lead. However, the match remained tighter than the last match, and the set ended with a score of 16–25. 

In the final set, things looked like they might turn for the Judges. They began with an astounding 6–3 lead, which remained for a while. Although the Beavers tied the score several times, the Judges continued to pull ahead each time until the score was tied 10-10. Then the Beavers picked up the pace and captured the set, and therefore match, 28–30. Babson subsequently maintained their stellar record of 18–1 for the season.

Endicott 3, Judges 0

For the third game in a row, the Judges were not able to win a single match. In the first match, the Endicott Gulls started with a lead and maintained it the entire set. It was not until after the Gulls had scored three points that the Judges were able to score one point from a kill by LaMont. Just like against Babson, the Judges would end up trailing this first set by quite a bit. In the end, Endicott won by nine points with a set score of 25–16.

In the second set, the Judges scored the second, third and fourth set points from a kill by Scott, with an error on the part of the Gulls’ Remi Quesnelle and a service ace by Brandeis’ Marissa Borgert ’21. The Judges held strong until three points into the match, but once again, the Gulls gained momentum and claimed the overall victory. Attwo points during the game, the Gulls had a 10-point lead at 18–8 and 21–11. The final set score was 25–13. 

The Judges attempted to make a recovery in the match’s final set, but could not take hold against the Gulls. Although they claimed the game’s first two points, it was not enough to fluster the Gulls, who immediately tied the score and pulled into the lead, one that sustained the team and brought them to a match victory. The third set’s final score was 25–18. Endicott became 14–5 for the season, a record far ahead of the Judges.

The Judges will face the Tufts University Jumbos next Wednesday, where they will have a chance to break their losing streak and turn their season around. 

In an email to the Justice, Amelia Oppenheimer ’23 said, “As a team, we need to work on keeping a consistent energy level at all times while we are playing. We are also working on playing with urgency to push to finish games at the 20 point mark.” 

She added that the team’s ultimate goal is to make it to the NCAA championships, but also to grow skills and push to become a more cohesive unit on the court. These elements are both at play during victorious matches. If the team can bring these elements together, then they could turn their season around and achieve their NCAA goals.