The volleyball team went into the UAA Championships riding high. Last week, the team went 3-1 at the Judges' Classic. Two weeks ago, they had the same record at the Hall of Fame tournament. Ranked fifth in the UAAs, the Judges ran into tough competition, losing to Rochester in the fifth place match. "The last three weeks of the season hve been our best," Co-captain Marni Kutok '04 said. "It took us longer to mesh together as a team in the beginning of the season and to find our perfect line-up. But, once everything clicked, we really played well."

In Friday's pool play, Washington University (MO) swept the Judges in the first match (30-19, 39-20, 30-17).

The highlight of the match was Kutok's 19 digs and nine kills, Adam Levin, Gosman's sports information director, said.

Trying to keep itself in contention, Brandeis fought hard against perennial rival NYU. The Violets won the first two games (30-20, 30-25). The Judges came back, inching past NYU 30-28 in the second game, before the Violets closed out the fourth 30-23.

The highlights of the match were Kutok's 16 digs, 10 kills and 3 serving aces. This rode on the heel of Kutok's performance last week, in which she served five straight aces. Jenn Lobban '05 registered 11 kills and seven digs. Ceriello racked up 34 assists and 12 digs.

"Going into the tournament, we were hoping to beat NYU during pool play competition," Kutok said. "We played a good match but lost to them in four games."

In the final game of pool play, Brandeis defeated Rochester (30-22, 27-30, 30-17, 30-20).

Kutok led the team with 19 kills and 19 digs. Ceriello had another strong game, picking up another 34 assists and 10 kills. Lobban had 15 digs of her own to compliment her 11 kills.

On Saturday, the teams entered tournament play. Brandeis defeated Case Western Reserve (CWURU) and Rochester defeated the University of Chicago in the consolation semifinals. Washington defeated Carnegie Mellon and Emory defeated NYU in the winner's bracket semifinals.

"We had lost to CWRU earlier in the year," Kutok said. "So we wante d some revenge."

The Spartans came out playing with intensity against CWRU, winning the first game 30-27. Brandeis came back strong, winning the next three games (30-28, 30,22,30-21). The Judges' win set up a fifth place match between Rochester and Brandeis.

Kutok singled out Shannon Eagan '05 for playing outstanding defense in the game.

"While our loss to Rochester was a bit of a letdown . we played a great match against Case Western," Isabel de Koninck '04 said. "Theresa's defense was amazing. They were picking on her the whole time, and she put up just about everything."

"We had beaten them twice before," Jenn Lobban '05 added. "So, they were out to finally beat us."

Overall, players said the season was not a loss. "I think I played well this season, although I was not playing my normal 'left side' position for most of the season," Lobban said.

The Rochester Yellowjackets barely edged past the Judges. In the first two games, Rochester slipped past Brandeis 30-26 and 31-29. Brandeis came back with a convincing 30-21 win before Rochester closed out the match 32-30.

"We knew that we could have beaten them, but they came at us with revenge from the day before," Kutok said. "They found our weaknesses and attacked them. We played a good match, but Rochester played better."

In the championship game, Washington justified its first place ranking, defeating Emory convincingly (30-19, 30-10, 30-21).

Case Western Reserve reported that the UAA's MPV was Lulu Sewell from Emory. Katya Khmelnitskaya of NYU was the Rookie of the Year and Washington University's coaching staff was ranked first.

Co-captain Theresa Ceriello '03 was an All-Association Team honorable mention turned Second Team member after a recalculation. "She is the core player of the team and it will be hard to fill her spot," Kutok said. "She is a natural leader and a wonderful volleyball player. She will definitely be missed."

Ceriello returned the praise. "I was impressed how everyone worked together," she said. "I was especially impressed by Kutok's leading the team on and off the court."

After it was all over, Brandeis took sixth place in the UAAs, the same spot they occupied last year.

"I am disappointed that we didn't make it into the post-season," Ceriello said. She added that the team has been to the ECAC's for the past three years.