Tied two sets apiece and trailing 9-4 in the fifth and final set in a road match against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last Saturday, the volleyball team was only six points away from suffering its first loss of the season. But Brandeis fought back, reducing the deficit to three at 12-9 before going on a decisive 6-1 run to take the set 15-13, winning the match 3-2 against a team that ended the regular season last year as the top-ranked squad in the NCAA New England regional rankings.

"We did a great job of picking up on our defense," coach Michelle Kim said. "At that point . it was all about keeping the ball in play and reducing our errors."

With the comeback, Brandeis now holds a 3-0 record after defeating Johnson and Wales University in four sets earlier in the day at MIT.

Against MIT, Brandeis dropped the first set 25-19, but the team remained confident it could compete with the Engineers, a NCAA Tournament participant in each of the last two seasons.

"The game was close and we definitely needed to make some tweaks here and there, but we were playing well," Kim said.

Brandeis took the next two sets 25-20 and 25-23, respectively, to gain a 2-1 edge in the match.

"We knew we had a very good chance to win against MIT," captain and right setter Piera Carfagno '10 said. "I think our first set was a good set to get us aware of what we needed to do and how to do it efficiently."

MIT went on to score 34 of the next 52 points, winning the fourth set 25-14 and jumping out to a 9-4 lead in the final set. With Carfagno set to serve, Brandeis trailed 12-10, but rallied for the next four points to take a 14-12 lead.

Setter Abby Blasco '11 said the five-set victory over MIT would boost the team's "mental toughness."

"It definitely pushes us to do what we can and it gives us the endurance if we had to go that long in any other [match]," she said.

Outside hitter Lorraine Wingenbach '09 paced the team against MIT with 20 digs to go along with 12 kills and two aces. Carfagno, who switched positions to right setter after playing as a middle blocker last season, contributed 10 kills, nine digs and four blocks in the win.

Kim said she is pleased with Carfagno's progression after changing positions.

"It's a little bit of a transition for her, but she's actually done a really good job adjusting to [right setter]," Kim said. "She's been working hard to get better and better."

Earlier in the day, the Judges split the first two sets with Johnson and Wales, with each team winning by a 25-18 margin, before closing out with 25-16 and 25-18 wins in the third and fourth sets, respectively.

After recording only 12 digs last season, libero Lauren Polinsky '11 has 29 this season, including 10 against Johnson and Wales. Carfagno had nine kills and seven digs, while Wingenbach tallied eight kills and 12 digs in the win.

"I think it was a really good, strong start and a good game to have before our bigger game against MIT," Carfagno said. "I think if we had any kinks, we worked them out [against Johnson and Wales], so we were prepared for MIT."

Kim continued to praise the efforts of the Blasco twins-Abby and Paige '11. Abby combined for 68 assists-including 42 against MIT-and 27 digs in the two matches, while Paige combined for 22 kills and 20 digs.

"Those two just understand each other pretty well and sort of can see each other's next move before it happens," Kim said.

The Judges will play Wellesley College at home tonight at 7 p.m. before hosting the Brandeis Invitational this weekend. Brandeis plays Smith College at 4 p.m. and Williams College at 8 p.m. Friday and will face Trinity College at noon and Rhode Island College at 4 p.m. on Saturday.