WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University volleyball team welcomed Misericordia University from Dallas, Pa., to the Red Auerbach Arena today, and the Judges handed the Cougars a 3-0 sweep as they celebrated Senior Day. Set scores were 25-20, 25-14, 25-17.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis, 10-11.
- Misericordia, 13-6.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The first set was the closest between the two teams, featuring six ties and three lead changes.
- Misericordia took an early 11-6 lead, but the Judges took 10 of the next 11 points on the serves of junior Taylor Lewis (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) and first-year Camila Valenzuela (Winter Park, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic).
- Leading 16-12, the Judges held the Cougars at bay to take the first, 25-20.
- Brandeis never trailed in the second set. The Judges jumped out to a 5-2 lead.
- After the Cougars tied things at 5-all, first-year Emmory Casto (Castle Rock, Colo./Rock Canyon) contributed a kill and a block on consecutive points to give the Judges the lead for good.
- Valenzuela had another terrific serving stretch, delivering two aces and a kill in a 6-0 run that put Brandeis up, 18-8, and the hosts cruised to a 25-14 win.
- The third set saw five ties and three lead changes in the early going, but Lewis and Valenzuela did it again from behind the service line, winning eight of nine to stretch the lead to 17-10.
- A 5-0 string on the serve of senior Olivia Nirode (Keller, Texas/Keller) helped push Brandeis's lead to 22-11, and the home team cruised to the 25-17 clincher.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- First-year Kennedy Hilson (Decatur, Ga./Decatur) led the Brandeis attack with 10 kills and just one error in 22 attempts for a .409 hitting percentage.
- Juniors Kennedy Lilly (Atlanta, Ga./Eagle's Landing Christian Academy) and Madison Haft-Abromovitch (Stratford, Conn./Rye CDS) each added eight kills. Lilly also had three blocks.
- Valenzuela paced the Judges with 15 assists and three service aces, while junior Alexa Ho (Queens, N.Y./Frances Lewis) added 10 assists and eight digs.
- Lewis topped the Judges with 12 digs.
SENIOR DAY
- Before the match, the Judges honored their two seniors for their fine careers:
- Defensive specialist Ava Ferrigno (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton Community)
- And defensive specialist Olivia Nirode (Keller, Texas/Keller).
UP NEXT
- The Judges are out-of-conference on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at Wentworth Institute of Technology.
