This past weekend, the volleyball team traveled to Emory University in Atlanta to kick off its first set of conference matches. The team followed a 3-0 defeat against NCAA No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis with a solid 3-1 victory over University of Rochester. However, the Judges ended the tournament with a 3-1 loss to No. 19 University of Chicago."Our conference is one of the strongest conferences in the country, if not the strongest," coach Michelle Kim wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "It's a great opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the country and there [is no] such thing as easy wins in our conference."

Now 10-7 on the season and 1-2 in conference play, Brandeis ended the weekend with a loss Sunday to Chicago by scores of 21-25, 25-21, 25-16 and 25-19.

The Judges started off strong, rallying from 10-4 and 16-10 deficits to seize the first set. After that, their play collapsed as they suffered close losses in the next three sets, sealing their fate in the final match of the UAA Round Robin Tournament.

Outside hitter Paige Blasco '11 notched another double-double in the loss as she led all players with 14 kills. Her 50 attempts were the most of any player in the match. Blasco also led all Judges with 11 digs.

Setter Abby Blasco '11 also made a contribution to the Judges' efforts by recording nine kills and 26 assists.

Middle blocker Nicole Smith '11 had nine kills in the match, while outside hitter/libero Si-Si Hensley had two kills and 12 digs.

To start Sunday, the Judges rebounded from the loss to WashU with a victory over Rochester by margins of 25-15, 19-25, 25-20 and 25-21.

After splitting the first two sets, Brandeis carried strong momentum throughout the rest of the match and prevailed over the Yellow Jackets in both sets.

Paige Blasco once again led the Judges with 20 kills and 25 digs. Out of 58 attempts, Blasco made only eight errors.

While Blasco's 20 kills were a team best, Rochester sophomore outside hitter Kelly Murely led all players in the match with 21 kills.

Abby Blasco had 39 of the team's 48 assists and led all players with nine block assists.

Smtih was second on the team with 14 kills, but she was a presence on the defensive side of the ball. Smith had eight block assists in the win.

On Friday, the first day of the tournament, Brandeis had difficulty handling its first conference opponent of the season; the reigning national champion WashU Bears. The Judges lost 25-23, 25-14 and 25-16 despite coming out strong initially in the first set, holding a late 19-14 lead.

Eventually, they could not contain the Bears, succumbing to the home squad 25-23. Entering the next set, the Judges lost the rhythm they had in the first set and succumbed to the Bears in the second and third sets.

In the loss to the Bears, Paige Blasco set the pace for the Judges with 11 kills. Abby Blasco aided the Judges by recording 23 assists and a team-leading eight digs.

Defensive specialist Susan Sun '13 tied Abby Blasco's mark with eight digs as well.

Paige Blasco said she felt the team's biggest difficulty this weekend against stemmed from its finish in conference play last year.

"Coming in as an underdog, and due to our poor finish in conference play last year, our team was psyched out by that," Blasco said.

However, she believes there are some positive lessons to draw from their first conference matches of the 2010 season.

"It seems that our team chemistry is finally coming together, and we know we have the individual skills," she said.

The Judges get a brief respite from conference opponents as they take on local rival Emerson College tonight at 7 p.m.

On Friday and Saturday, the team will venture to Keene State College to face both Colby Sawyer College and host Keene State.