The Judges traveled to the University of Rochester this past weekend to finish their season at the University Athletics Association Tournament. The Judges headed into the tournament seeded seventh out of eight teams. Despite touting an overall winning record heading into the tournament (16-11), the Judges had gone 1-5 against UAA teams during the regular season. 

Aiming to go nowhere but up, the women opened their first match on Saturday, Nov. 15 versus Case Western Reserve University with a win, capturing the first set with 25 points to the Spartans’ 23. Unfortunately, this was one of only three sets they managed to claim all weekend. 

It was Lara Verstovsek ’24 who led the charge, ending the first set with a kill. The second set saw CWRU and Brandeis battle for control, each team going on impressive scoring streaks until the set came down to a 21-18 climax that favored Brandeis. However, the Spartans capitalized on errors and after a series of nail-biting back and forth two-point advantages, CWRU won the set 27-25. 

The third set saw the Spartans claim a solid 25-19 victory, but the Judges fought back in the game-deciding fourth set, opening with a 6-2 lead. But ultimately Case Western took 10 of the next 12 points. Similar to the second set, it was a back and forth battle for control of the end of the set. After a chance to tie the score from Verstovsek went long, the Spartans claimed their 25-23 set victory and ended the game 3-1. 

The game was still celebratory for Tatiana Wainer ’25, who made just two errors in 15 attacks, securing a .400 hitting percentage — a team high this season. 

Brandeis moved on to their second match of the day against New York University with their heads held high, replicating the momentum they created in the first set versus Case Western and hoping for more. Winning the first set 25-20, the Judges achieved a .367 hitting percentage, but their offense careened in the following sets as they only managed to hit, at best, a .105 hitting percentage for the rest of the game. 

NYU won the next two sets 25-16 and 25-19, but  Brandeis found an opportunity in the fourth set when the Violets racked up 13 errors. The Judges tied the game with a 25-20 set victory, but NYU claimed the fifth set 15-4, sending them to the seventh place match. 

In their final match of the tournament and of their season, the Judges faced the University of Rochester Yellowjackets. Ranked eighth in the UAA, the tournament hosts were visibly gunning for a victory on their home court. 

In three straight sets, the Yellowjackets beat the Judges 25-19, 28-25 and 25-21. Despite a few scoring streaks here and there that tied the second set at 15 and the third set at 20, the Judges’ valiant attempts to get in the game fell short. The third and final set was decided by the Yellowjackets as they scored five of the final six points with kills. 

Still, there are moments to celebrate — Verstovsek and Anna Ertischek ’26 were named to the All-UAA Volleyball team. Verstovsek led the UAA conference in kills and points per set during the regular season and kept this distinction even in UAA-only matches. This award was Eritschek’s first time being honored by the UAA, which was an exciting feat for the junior who recorded the second highest number of kills on the team. Most notably, Ertischek set a new single-match hitting percentage school record at .750 during the team’sL win against Skidmore College on Sept. 6. Verstovsek was also recently named the Division III player of the week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Nov. 12.  

This season’s 16-14 record is the second-best finish for the Judges’ coach of 10 years, Alesia Bennett.