WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University volleyball team played terrific defense and overcame a significant loss at the start of the third set tonight as the Judges defeated Johnson & Wales University, 3-1, in a non-conference match-up in front of a terrific Founder's Day crowd in Auerbach Arena.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis, 9-11.
- Johnson & Wales, 10-5.
HOW IT HAPPENED (25-17, 14-25, 25-19, 25-20)
- The opening portion of the match was close, as the teams battled back and forth, neither going ahead by more than two points.
- With the set tied at 11, the Judges embarked on a 9-1 run, including six points in a row on the serve of senior Ava Ferrigno (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton Community). Three of those points were kills by junior Madison Haft-Abromovitch (Stratford, Conn./Rye Country Day School).
- The Judges closed things out, 25-17, as Haft-Abromovitch finished the set with eight kills and no errors in 12 attacks. She was part of a .469 team hitting percentage, one of Brandeis's best sets of the season.
- JWU responded in the second set, racing out to leads of 3-0 and 9-2. The lead would bulge to 12 points for the Wildcats finished it off, 25-14.
- Brandeis looked like it might be in trouble early when Haft-Abromovitch left with an injury and JWU ran out to a 6-1 lead.
- Judge head coach Alesia Bennett called timeout to settle her team, and the Judges responded with 13 of the next 17 points.
- The hosts took a 14-10 lead on back-to-back kills by first-year Kennedy Hilson (Decatur, Ga./Decatur). They were able to keep Wildcats at bay, taking the third, 25-19.
- Brandeis kept up momentum in the fourth, storming out to a 7-0 lead. The visitors answered with 9-2 run of their own, tying things up at 9-all.
- Brandeis crept back ahead, 13-10, but JWU answered once again, taking their first lead of the set at 15-14.
- An attack error gave the serve back to the Judges, and a kill by first-year Talia Celotto (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) and back-to-back aces by classmate Camila Valenzuela (Winter Park, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic) put Brandeis back on top for good, 18-15.
- First-year Nina Schweigert (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) delivered three kills in a span of four points to give Brandeis its first match point. JWU held off the Judges' first three opportunities, but first-year Emmory Casto (Castle Rock, Colo./Rock Canyon) drilled an attack off the Wildcats' block to give Brandeis the fourth and final set, 25-20.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Despite missing the second two sets, Haft-Abromovitch still led the Brandeis attack with 12 kills.
- Three other Judges picked up the slack after she went out, with Schweigert, Hilson and junior Kennedy Lilly (Atlanta, Ga./Eagle's Landing Christian Academy) each picking up eight kills. Fifteen of their 24 kills came in the third and fourth sets, including seven by Schweigert.
- Hilson was the most efficient of the Judges , finishing with just one error in her 19 attacks for a .368 hitting percentage.
- Junior Taylor Lewis (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) led the Brandeis defense with 19 digs, three shy of her career-best. Ferrigno added 11 and Valenzuela had 10 as the Judges finished with 55 digs to JWU's 44.
- Valenzuela also had 28 assists to finish with her third-straight double-double. She also had a match-high five service aces.
UP NEXT
- The Judges will meet Misericordia University on Saturday at 12 p.m., when the celebrate Senior Day.
