CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Brandeis University volleyball team forced eighth-ranked MIT to extra points in the opening set and won the third, but the Judges ultimately dropped a 3-1 decision to the Engineers as part of the MIT Invitational today. Set scores were 26-24, 25-12, 23-25, 25-20.
TEAM RECORDS
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The first set saw seven ties and three lead changes. Brandeis was down, 12-6, early, but the Judges scored six in a row on the serve of senior Ava Ferrigno (Boca Raton, Fla. / Boca Raton Community) to tie things up at 12.
- MIT halted the momentum with a kill, but Brandeis won the next four points to reclaim a 16-13 lead. The hosts answered with a 6-1 run of their own to go up, 19-17, and the Engineers eventually took a 24-21 lead.
- Brandeis erased three set points to knot things up at 24-all, but a service error by the Judges followed by an ace by MIT gave the hosts the 1-0 lead, 26-24.
- The Engineers took a 2-0 lead with a commanding 25-12 win in the second set.
- Brandeis fought back to take the third, 25-23. The sides traded 4-0 runs to open the set. With the score tied at 9-9, Brandeis got the serve back on a service error by the Engineers, then executed three straight blocks, with first-year Kennedy Hillson (Decatur, Ga. / Decatur) involved in all three, to take a 13-9 advantage.
- MIT answered again, eventually taking an 18-15 lead, but Brandeis scored five in a row and eight of the next nine points to go ahead, 23-19, holding off the Engineers, 25-23.
- The Judges stayed close in the fourth set, leading by as many as four points early, and staying tied with the hosts until 17-all.
- MIT answered with three in a row to take the lead for good, 20-17. The Judges closed within 20-19, but the Engineers closed things out with a 5-1 run to take it, 25-20.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Hilson led the Brandeis offense, scoring 13 points, including 10 kills for her first collegiate match in double figures.
- Hilson made just one error in 26 attempts for a team-high .346 hitting percentage.
- She also led the Brandeis net defense with a career-high five blocks (one solo).
- Junior Madison Haft-Abomovitch (Stratford, Conn./Rye Country Day School) added nine kills and two service aces.
- Junior Taylor Lewis (Haverhill, Mass. / Haverhill) and first-year Camila Valenzuela (Winter Park, Fla. / Bishop Moore Catholic) each had three service aces to lead the team.
- Ferrigno led four Judges in double-digit digs with 19, while junior Alexa Ho (Queens, N.Y. / Francis Lewis) had 15 assists.
UP NEXT
- The Judges will meet the University of Scranton and Maine Maritime on Day 2 of the MIT Invitational tomorrow.
