CHICAGO, Ill. – The Brandeis University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches today at the second of three University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin meets held at the University of Chicago. The Judges fell to the host Maroons in three sets in their opener and suffered a second 3-0 loss to Carnegie Mellon University in the second match of the day.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 7-9, 0-5 UAA.
• Chicago: 6-12, 2-3 UAA.
• Carnegie Mellon: 13-5, 3-2 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs CHICAGO (Set scores: 25-16, 25-15, 25-11)

• The Judges couldn't get their offense on track against the host Maroons, as all three sets were decided by nine or more points.
• UC outhit Brandeis, .253 to -.042, and totaled 46 digs to the Judges' 35 and seven service aces to one for the visitors.
• Sophomore Anna Ertischek (Montgomery, Texas/Lake Creek) led Brandeis with six kills.
• Senior Ines Grom-Mansencal (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wyoming) recorded a double-double with 12 assists and 12 digs. It was her second of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. CARNEGIE MELLON (Set scores: 25-22, 25-12, 25-23)

• Brandeis was much more competitive in their second match of the day, with two of the three sets coming down to the wire.
• They fought off two set points in the opening set before falling, 25-22. In the third, Brandeis fell behind, 8-1, but battled back in the late stages. They closed a 15-9 deficit to one on the serve of junior Lara Verstovsek (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) thanks to a pair of Ertischek kills.
• The teams traded points until CMU held an 18-16 lead, but first-year Olivia Nirode (Keller, Texas/Keller) served another 5-0 run that included a pair of blocks, the last by senior Rita Lai (Sugar Land, Texas/Clements) and junior Arianna Jackson (Lewis Center, Ohio/Oletangy Orange) that gave the Judges a 21-18 lead.
• Unfortunately, Brandeis could not sustain the momentum, as the Tartans closed the set on a 7-2 run to close things out, 25-23.
• Verstovsek and Ertischek paced the Brandeis offense against CMU, with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, but no other Judge had more than three kills.
• The teams were on opposite ends of the service and net games, with Carnegie Mellon owning a 15-4 advantage in service aces, while Brandeis had an 8-4 advantage in blocks, paced by four kills from Jackson and three each from Verstovsek and Lai.
• Senior Ella Pereira (Redondo Beach, Calif./Rolling Hills Prep) had 14 digs, while Grom-Mansencal had 13 digs and 21 assists for another double-double performance.

UP NEXT

• The Judges will be off for nine days before hosting Tufts University on Oct. 17.