ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Brandeis University volleyball team met a pair of nationally-ranked foes at the second of three University Athletic Association Round Robins today, taking three sets over the two matches. Against host and #8-ranked Washington University, the Judges won the third set in a 3-1 loss, while taking sets 1 and 4 in a 3-2 loss to #14 Case Western Reserve University.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 11-10, 0-5 UAA.
• Washington University, 17-4, 2-2 UAA, ranked #8 in Division III by AVCA.
• Case Western Reserve, 17-3, 3-2 UAA, ranked #14 in Division III.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs Washington U. (Set scores: 25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 25-15)

• The Judges and Bears played a tight first set, with the squads tied at 18-all after a kill from Brandeis senior Tatiana Wainer (North Miami Beach, Fla./Schech Hill Community).
• The hosts answered by scoring the last seven points of the set on the serve of Zoe Foster to take it, 25-18.
• In the second set, WashU jumped out to an 8-4 lead and were ahead by as many as nine points at 17-8.
• Brandeis battled back with a 7-1 run to close back within three at 18-15, but a 5-0 run from the Bears helped put things away, 25-17.
• The Judges battled in the third to earn their first set win of the day. They took an early 5-3 lead, but WashU answered with four in a row of their own to take a 7-5 lead.
• The Bears stayed ahead by two until 13-11, when the Judges reclaimed their first lead at 14-13 on back-to-back kills from junior Anna Ertischek (Montgomery, Texas/Montgomery).
• The hosts looked to take control back with a 5-0 run on the serve of Lucy Davis that gave them an 18-14 lead.
• The teams traded blows, with Brandeis tying things at 18-all and again at 20. A Lara Verstovsek (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) kill put Brandeis on top, 21-20, but two WashU kills and a block gave the hosts a 23-21 lead.
• After a Verstovsek kill gave the serve back to Brandeis, senior Arianna Jackson (Lewis Center, Ohio/Oletangy Orange) helped the Judges win the last three points with a kill, a block solo and a block assist, giving it to the Judges, 25-23.
• Washington U. never trailed in the fourth set, opening up leads of 4-1 and 8-2 before cruising to a 25-15 win to earn the overall 3-1 victory.
• The teams were close in terms of kills, with WashU owning a narrow 53-51 lead, but the Judges had 20 errors to 11 for the hosts. WashU also had significant advantages in service aces (13-6) and blocks (11-5).
• The Bears had a .356-.252 advantage in hitting percentage, as the home team only had one error each in the three sets that they won, while they committed eight in the set they lost.
• Verstovsek led Brandeis with 15 kills, while Ertischek had 13. Both players also had two service aces each.
• Sophomore Ava Ferrigno (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton Community) had 14 digs, tied for match-high honors, while first-year Isabella Irizarry (Guaynabo, P.R./Cupeyville School) added 12.
• First-year setter Alexa Ho (Queens, N.Y./Francis Lewis) had 25 assists and junior Julia Liang (Sugar Land, Texas/Clements) contributed 19.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs Case Western Reserve (Set scores: 21-25, 25-23, 25-13, 19-25, 15-11)

• The Judges got off to a great start, winning the first set, 25-21, thanks to seven kills from Ertischek.
• Trailing 8-4 in the first, Brandeis won five of the next six points to tie things up at 9-all on a Verstovsek kill. They took an 11-10 lead and were up by 13-11 when CWRU went on a 5-1 streak that put them on top, 16-14.
• Brandeis won the next four points to go back on top, and made another 4-0 run to create some separation in taking it, 25-21.
• The Judges got off to a great start in the second set, opening up leads of 6-3, 10-6 and 12-8.
• The Spartans answered with a 5-0 run and went on top, 13-12. They kept Brandeis at bay the rest of the way, taking it, 25-23.
• CWRU rolled in the third set, with 10 kills and one error compared to 10 kills and 10 miscues by Brandeis. The Spartans took it, 25-13, to claim a 2-1 overall lead.
• Brandeis bounced back in the fourth set, leading from wire-to-wire. The Judges had 17 kills to nine for the Spartans, outhitting them .227 to .152.
• The decisive set saw CWRU take an early 3-0 lead after two Brandeis errors and a block.
• The Judges wouldn't go away, tying things up at 7-all on a service ace by Wainer. Case Western Reserve won the next two points, but kills by first-year Lilly Kennedy (Atlanta, Ga./Eagle's Landing Christian Academy) and Jackson knotted things up at 9.
• The teams traded the next four points, with Verstovsek's kill evening things at 11-11.
• The Spartans' Rea Marfatia answered with a kill to give the Spartans a 12-11 lead, and they went on to score the final four points to take the match.
• Brandeis fell to 2-2 in three-set matches on the season with the defeat.
• Verstovsek led the Judges with 22 kills, her season-high and the ninth 20-kill match of her career. She also led the team with 19 digs for her 11^th double-double of the season, and had four blocks as well.
• Ertischek added 16 kills and Lilly had a career-high 11, reaching double digits for the fourth time.
• Ferrigno added 13 digs on defense. Liang had 31 assists and Ho had 25.
• Brandeis won the battle with 65 kills to 50 for CWRU, and 11-6 in service aces. The Spartans had an 18-7 advantage in blocks, but they also committed just 13 attacking errors compared to 36 for the Judges.

UP NEXT

• The Judges will head to UMass Boston on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in a non-conference contest.