ROCHESTER, New York – The Brandeis University volleyball team, seeded seventh, pushed second-seeded and 16^th-ranked Case Western Reserve University in the opening round of the University Athletic Association tournament today at the University of Rochester. The Judges won the opening set, 25-23, before falling in the next three, 25-27, 19-25, 23-25. The Judges will meet the loser of the match between #3 seed Washington University and #6 seed NYU in the consolation semifinals today at 5 p.m.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis,16-12.
• Case Western Reserve, 24-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first set was tight as neither team led by more than three points at any time in the set, and that was an early 4-1 lead by the Judges.
• Both teams made runs, but Case Western Reserve owned a 22-21 lead on a kill by Rea Marfatia.
• The Judges closed on a 4-1 run to take the opener, 25-23, on a kill by senior Lara Verstovsek (Houston, Texas/Episcopal).
• The second set started out close, but saw CWRU open up some breathing room midway through with a 4-2 run that put them ahead, 15-11, on a Marfatia kill.
• Brandeis roared back, scoring eight of the next nine points to take a 19-16 lead on a kill from senior Tatiana Wainer (Miami, Fla./Schech Hillel Community School).
• The teams traded points until it got to 21-18, Brandeis. The Spartans then scored four in row, the last two on Brandeis errors, to take a 22-21 lead.
• Brandeis bounced back with a three-point run of their own, as senior Arianna Jackson (Lewis Center, Ohio/Oletangy Orange) gave the Judges two set points with a kill that made it 24-22.
• The Spartans erased the first two set points and scored another to go ahead, 25-24. An Anna Ertischek (Montgomery, Texas/Lake Creek) kill averted CWRU's first set point, but the Spartans picked up blocks on the last two points to even the match, 27-25.
• The third set was the only set not decided by two points. CWRU raced out to a 5-1 lead, but the Judges tied things up at 5-all.
• The Spartans would eventually pull away, taking leads of 15-10 and 20-14. Brandeis battled back to cut a 22-16 deficit in half, but Case Western scored the set's final three points to win, 25-19.
• The Judges got off to a fast start in the fourth set, going ahead 6-2 early thanks to a pair of blocks by first-year middle blocker Madison Haft-Abromovich (Stratford, Conn./Rye Country Day School).
• Case Western Reserve answered with 10 of the next 12 points to take a 12-8 lead on a Kalli Wall kill. The Spartans took advantage of four Brandeis attack errors in the run.
• CWRU extended their lead to 22-16 on a block by Wall and Lilly Crouch.
• Brandeis had one last run in them, scoring five in a row on kills by Haft-Abromovich, first-year Kennedy Lilly (Atlanta, Ga./Eagles Landing Christian Academy) and Wainer, a Spartan error, and a block by Verstovsek and Wainer.
• Verstovsek missed just long on her attempt to tie the score, and CWRU used the opening to hold off the Judges and take the fourth, 25-23.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Verstovsek led all players with 17 kills. She added one service ace and two block assists for a match-high 19 points
• Ertischek had 12 kills, while Wainer had eight. Wainer also had just two errors in 15 attacks for a team-high .400 hitting percentage.
• Sophomore libero Ava Ferrigno (Boca Raton, Florida/Boca Raton Community) led Brandeis with 22 digs, while Verstovsek had nine.
• Junior Julia Liang (Sugar Land, Texas/Clements) had 26 assists, while first-year Alexa Ho (Queens, N.Y./Francis Lewis) had 21.
• At the net, Wainer finished with four blocks (one solo) and Haft-Abromovich had three blocks (one solo).

UP NEXT

• The Judges will play in the consolation semifinals tonight at 5 p.m. against either sixth-seeded NYU or third-seeded and 11^th-ranked Washington University.