AUBURNDALE, Mass. – The Brandeis University volleyball team hit .409 over the last two sets tonight as the Judges overcame a 0-2 deficit to defeat host Lasell on the road. Set scores were 21-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-13, 15-10.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis, 7-9.
- Lasell, 6-8.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Lasell got off to a hot start, winning the first two sets by identical 25-21 scores.
- The first set featured four ties and three lead changes, with the Lasers closing on a 5-1 run to snap a 20-all tie.
- The hosts scored eight-straight points early in the second set to take a 10-6 lead they would not relinquish.
- After changing sides, Brandeis would not trail over the next two sets. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second, and even though Lasell tied things up at 8-all and 9-all, the Judges never fell behind, leading by as many as five before hanging on for the 25-23 win.
- The Judges rolled in the fourth, 25-13, finishing with 12 kills and just one error in 19 attacks for a .579 hitting percentage in the set. Junior Madison Haft-Abromovitch (Stratford, Conn./Rye Country Day School) was 4-for-4 in the set, while first-year Kennedy Hilson (Decatur, Ga./ Decatur) was 3-for-5.
- The teams played their tightest set in the decisive fifth, with six ties and three lead changes, both just one fewer than in the first four sets.
- The decisive run came after Lasell took a 6-5 lead. The Lasers committed an error on the next point to make it 6-all, and another to give Brandeis the lead.
- The Judges won the next five points, with first-year setter Camila Valenzuela (Winter Park, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic) posting two assists, a kill and a service ace, while classmate Nina Schweigert (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) delivering two kills. Valenzuela's ace made it 12-6, and the Judges held off Lasell for the 15-10 win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Haft-Abromovitch led the Judges with 13 kills, 10 coming in the final three sets. She made just three errors in 27 attacks for a .370 percentage.
- Hilson added 11 kills, while junior Kennedy Lilly (Atlanta, Ga./Eagles Landing Christian Academy) had nine kills without an error in 18 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.
- Valenzuela split setting duties with senior Alexa Ho (Queens, N.Y./Frances Lewis), finishing with 19 and 16 assists, respectively. Valenzuela also had five of the team's 14 service aces.
- Hillson was in on five of the team's seven blocks, and Lilly had four block assists.
- Junior Taylor Lewis (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) had a team-high eight digs.
- Brandeis had the edge with 48 kills to 47 for Lasell, while outhitting the Lasers, .227 to .202 for the match, including the .409-.171 over the final two sets.
- The Judges improve to 2-1 this season in five sets. This was their first reverse sweep of the campaign.
UP NEXT
- The Judges are off until October 9 when they play at Montclair State University in advance of the second UAA round robin at NYU.
