This week, the Brandeis Judges’ volleyball team suffered two match losses. Their opponent on Oct. 31 was the Wellesley College Blue, and they handed the Judges three set losses in a row with scores of 11–25, 16–25 and 19–25. However, on Nov. 2, the Judges put up a great fight against the University of Massachusetts Boston Beacons before losing in the fifth and deciding match. Existing Judges injuries to several players on the team left the Judges with little depth, and the team began to tire in the last two sets. The Beacons won with set scores of 25–20, 18–25, 21–25, 25–15 and 15–8.

At the volleyball team’s Senior Night at Red Auerbach Arena, an injured Judges squad gave the visiting Blue their best before ultimately losing the match 3–0. The Judges’ injuries going into the game combined with in-match injuries only furthered tired the remaining players. With this match loss, the Judges fell to 4–19 for the season, while the Blue improved to 21–4 on the year.

In the first set, Wellesley jumped out to a quick 11–4 lead and never looked back. The Judges tried to come back thanks to back-to-back aces by Kaitlyn Oh ’22, but the Blue scored six straight points under the service of Nicole Doerges to retake the momentum and win the set. Set two was much the same, as Wellesley took an early 11–2 lead, but the Judges rallied to cut the lead by one at 15–14 on a combination block by Avery Donovan ’22 and Amelia Oppenheimer ’23 to revitalize the team. However, the Blue answered the Judges’ surge by scoring 10 of the last 12 points to take the set. In the third set, the Judges changed things up and battled to a 6–2 lead early on. Even though the Blue kept inching their way back, eventually tying the game at 17, the Judges would not give up their attempts to pull ahead. However, Wellesley held onto the momentum and finished the set 25–19.

 Emma Bartlett ’20 led the Judges with eight kills in her final home match, ending her home season with a total of 947 kills and 297 blocks. Bartlett is on pace for a sixth 1000-kill season and second ever 300 block season in Brandeis history. Oh had a game-high 18 digs for the Judges, and Donovan had five blocks.

 On Nov. 2, the Judges faced UMass Boston, and having regrouped from their loss a few days earlier, the teamcame out strong. Though the Judges lost the first set, they remained persistent and won the next two sets for a 2–1 lead. However, the Judges were short players due to injuries and began to tire. They were not able to hold onto the lead and lost the next two sets, 15–25 and 8–15. Playing without their regular setter and libero, the Judges were still able to take an initial 2–1 set lead. The Brandeis offense was on fire in the third set, picking up 16 of their 25 points on kills as they won, 25–21. The Beacons responded in the fourth and fifth sets, as they made just two errors and had 20 kills on 46 total attacks, while Brandeis was held even with as many kills as errors. Without much depth in the team though the Judges began to tire in the fourth set and lost the final two sets and the match 2–3. The Beacons took the final two sets by scores of 25–15 and 15–8 to take the match win.

 Despite being down two regulars, the Judges managed to put together three double-double performances. Belle Scott ’21 tied for match high honors with 16 kills and had seven errors for a .205 hitting percentage, 15 digs, tied for team-high honors. This was her sixth double-double of the season. Oppenheimer added her third double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs and Bartlett completed the double-double contingent with 11 kills and 12 digs. It was Bartlett’s eighth of the season. Talia Freud ’23 had 20 assists, while Emily Morrison ’23 had 15 assists.

 Brandeis, the seventh seed in next weekend’s University Athletic Association tournament in Chicago, meets Emory University, the second seed and second-ranked in Division III, in the quarterfinals.


The only graduating senior for the Judges is Bartlett who was honored at the Judges’ Senior Night.