The Judges had one final chance to defeat their conference rivals this year, when they competed in the University Athletic Association Championships at New York University last weekend. However, the Judges dropped all three conference matches in the tournament, falling to 9-20 for the season.

Regardless, outside hitter Si-Si Hensley '14 noted how the team improved over the course of the year.

"This weekend, our team played extremely well, even though we didn't win any games," she said. "It was one of our better weekends as a team. I was very happy with how we played."

In their last match of the tournament, the Judges squared off against Carnegie Mellon University in a true nail-biter. Brandeis led early in the first set, going up 8-4 on the Tartans, but they allowed their early edge to slip away. Three consecutive kills by the Tartans tied the set at nine. After the Judges briefly pulled ahead on a service error, the Tartans went on a 5-1 run to pull away midway through the set. Brandeis showed some life and cut the lead down to two points late in the set, after outside hitter Liz Hood '14, setter Yael Einhorn '14 and Hensley all notched kills, but the Judges would get no closer, falling 25-21.

The second set was a slugfest with four early lead changes, and the point difference was never greater than three points. Brandeis led for the majority of the set, but while leading 22-21, two attacking errors by the Judges gave the Tartars the momentum to take the second set 25-23.

In the third set, the Judges fell behind early and could not battle all the way back. The team trailed 20-10, before whittling the Tartars' lead down to three points on a determined 10-3 run, pulling to within 23-20. Instead, two successive kills from the Tartars doomed the Judges.

Hood and Hensley split the lead in kills with 10 while Einhorn tallied 31 assists. Libero Elsie Bernaiche '15 and defensive specialist Susan Sun '13 led the defensive effort with 14 and 12 digs respectively.

In their other match on Friday, the Judges faced off against New York University. Once again, Brandeis played strongly in the first set and almost came away with a victory. Brandeis took a 16-14 advantage, but the Violets bounced back and pulled ahead of the Judges. Brandeis fought back one last time, due in large part to a kill by Hensley and a ace from setter Vanessa Bodie '15 allowed Brandeis to claw back to take a 26-25 lead.

However, two straight kills from NYU and an attacking error on Brandeis clinched the set for the host side. Brandeis never recovered from the first set, dropping the next two by scores of 25-19 and 25-14.

Hood notched the team lead in kills with nine, while Hensley chipped in with eight kills. Einhorn contributed 19 assists and libero Elsie Bernaiche '15 anchored the defense with 21 digs.

Brandeis started its weekend campaign last Friday night against No. 1 Emory University. Brandeis came out strong, earning 22 points in the first set, but could not muster the same momentum in the following two sets, earning 18 points and 11 points, respectively.

Hood and Hensley both tied for the team led in kills with eight. The rest of the team, however, chipped in with only four kills. Hensley was also the only player to post a positive kill percentage in the game, demonstrating the Judges' difficulties on offense.

Although the season is now over, it is never too early to begin thinking about the next step.

"Next season, we're going to have the same team; we're not losing any girls," said Hensley. "We just need to bring our team chemistry together again and make sure we're consistent. And it's a lot easier because our team dynamic is set in stone."

Middle blocker Lauren Berens '13 said that having the entire team back for next year should certainly help with team chemistry.

"Half our team [was first-years], so it was interesting to see how they grew over the season," she said.

"And next year should be great because we already have some communication and chemistry down. And our team does have so much potential, and I'm just excited to see how our team dynamic will carry over into next year."