Women’s volleyball team advances to semifinals

Judges sweep Falcons in quarterfinals; move on to face Salve Regina

Sportspix/Mike Broglio

Outside hitter Liz Hood '15 led Judges with 16 kills.

The top-seeded Brandeis Women’s Volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 sweep of the eighth-seeded Albertus Magnus Falcons in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) quarterfinals match thanks to a stellar offensive night led by outside hitter Liz Hood ’15. Brandeis won 25-9, 25-13, 25-12 and improves to 20-13. The Judges advance to the semifinals while the Falcons fall to 12-13.

Brandeis dominated the match from the outset. In the first set, the Judges raced out to a 10-1 advantage, never relinquishing its lead en route to a 25-9 win. Six different players recorded at least two kills as setter Yael Einhorn ‘14 had 12 assists in the set and led the offense to a .682 hitting percentage, with 16 kills and just one error.

In the second set, Albertus Magnus looked to bounce back as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead featuring three kills from rookie middle blocker Kelsey Pendagast. However, Brandeis fought back and evened the score at 10-10. Then middle blocker Carly Gutner-Davis ‘15 took over, serving 10 consecutive points where she racked up four service aces and a kill to open up a 20-10 lead. The Judges closed the set out for a 25-13 win, recording 12 kills to one error.

In the third set, a see-saw battle found the two sides knotted up 10-10 once more but this time middle blocker Becca Fisher ‘13 came to the rescue. Fisher served seven consecutive points with Hood recording three kills in that span to open up an 18-10 advantage that Brandeis would not give up. The Judges closed the set on a 15-2 run and won 25-12 when Hood ended the match on a service ace for the sweep.

For the match, Brandeis racked up a season-high .487 attacking percentage thanks to 36 assists from Einhorn. Hood led the squad with 16 kills and earned her own season-high with a .652 attacking percentage. Meanwhile, middle blocker Lauren Berens ‘13 and rookie middle blocker Maddie Engeler ‘16 combined for 10 kills with another excellent .667 attacking percentage for each player. Finally, outside hitter Si-Si Hensley ‘14 led the squad with 10 digs while senior defensive specialist Susan Sun recorded six.

For the Falcons, junior outside hitter Melissa Manning led the team with six kills while senior setter Maritza Rosemond orchestrated the attack with nine assists. Albertus Magnus had a four-way tie for the team lead in digs with junior defensive specialist Nicole Acerra, rookie defensive specialist Alyssa Puccilli, Manning, and Rosemond all recording five. 

The Judges move on to face fifth-seeded Salve Regina in the semifinals on Saturday Nov. 10 at 10 a.m. at Red Auerbach Arena.