WALTHAM, Mass. - The Brandeis University women's volleyball team came back twice from being down a set, before finally coming away with a 3-2 (15-25, 26-24, 21-25, 25-20, 15-12) victory over visiting Simmons College this evening at Red Auerbach Arena in Waltham, Mass. The Sharks fall to 0-10 on the season, while the Judges win their third straight match to improve to 5-7.
Simmons got off to a quick start, using a string of eight-straight points served by junior defensive specialist Chanel Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) to turn an 8-5 deficit into a 13-8 lead. The Sharks never looked back, as they took advantage of 12 attack errors by the Judges to win the first set, 25-15.
The second set was extremely tight, featuring 11 ties and two lead changes. The set was tied at 20 when a Maddie Engeler (Sandusky, Ohio) kill kicked off a 4-1 run that got the Judges to set-point, 24-21. First year outside hitter Sarah Woodward (Deerfield, Mass.) stopped the bleeding with a kill of her own, the visitors bounced back to tie the stanza at 24-24. An attack error by Simmons gave Brandeis another set point, and Judge senior Carly Gutner-Davis (Del Mar, Calif.) recorded a solo block to clinch the set, 26-24.
The third set featured a come-from-behind performance by the visitors. Trailing 17-12, they closed on a 13-4 run, paced by two kills each from first year middle blocker Emmee Ashby (Payson, Ariz.) and Woodward to take it 25-21. The Judges got off to a quick start in the fourth, scoring seven of the first eight points on runs served by first year setter Julie Kim (Fullerton, Calif.) and junior Maggie Swenson (East Lyme, Conn.). Senior Liz Hood (Albuquerque, N.M.) and sophomore Jessica Kaufman (Tuscon, Ariz.) each had two kills in the opening string. Simmons battled back to tie the set at 15 and 16, but a closing 9-4 run by the home team, punctuated by Hood's fifth kill of the set, forced the deciding set, 25-20.
The final set was close in the early going. Two Ashby kills tied it up at 6-6, but an Engeler block on an attack by Duke gave Brandeis a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Brandeis was able to take the final two sets with their finest hitting performances of the match, swinging for .171 in the fourth and .238 in the fifth after not cracking .100 in the first three stanzas.
Woodward led the way offensively for Simmons with 14 kills and a .238 hitting mark to go with a pair of aces, 13 digs and two block assists, while classmate and Ashby had 11 kills and a match-best .308 hitting percentage in addition to a career-high six total blocks, including three solos. Sophomore libero Alex Itasaka (Bradford, Mass.) led all players with 24 digs, one of five Sharks to finish with 10 or more digs, while sophomore setter Andalyn Duke (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) had 39 assists and 18 digs.
Brandeis had two players record double-doubles. Hood led all players with 16 kills, 11 coming in sets won by the Judges. She also had a season-high 15 digs for her first double-double of the season. Kim had her fourth, all in the last five matches, with 42 assists and 13 digs.
Engeler added 10 kills for the home team. Also reaching double figures in digs were Kaufman with 16, and senior libero Elsie Bernaiche (Plansville, Conn.), who led the team with 19. The Judges had 13 service aces for the match, with Kaufman serving three and four different players recording two.
The Sharks return to action on Saturday, September 27 with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match in Providence, R.I. at Johnson & Wales University. They will play JWU at 2:00 p.m. and Anna Maria College at 12:00 p.m., while Brandeis plays on the same day with a tri-match at Colby-Sawyer College with Emmanuel College, starting at 1 p.m.