With University Athleitc Association competition looming in the near future, the women's volleyball team was able to gain some valuable experience at the Hall of Fame Invitational at Smith College last weekend, winning two of three matches.
The wins improved their record to 16-11 and 1-6 in the UAA.

In the UAA Round Robin II at Carnegie Mellon University two weekends ago, the Judges finally broke through and won their first-ever UAA match, defeating New York University in straight sets. They carried that momentum into last weekend, defeating Bridgewater State, 3-0, and Smith College, 3-2. However, they fell to Middlebury College, 3-0.

Defensive specialist Elsie Bernaiche '15 commented about the effects of the UAA Round Robin II on the team's prospects for the rest of the season.

"The win against NYU didn't so much affect our play as much as it reaffirmed our team attitude to play to our potential every single match," she said.

"The win against NYU additionally helped us raise the bar for our individual play. Every player performed extremely well, and now that we have set that standard, we will have higher expectations for every game following that performance in the UAAs."

Brandeis' last game of the Hall of Fame Invitational was perhaps the most exciting game of the tournament. Playing against host Smith, the Judges won the first set 25-19. After losing the second set 25-22, they bounced back to take the third set, 25-21.

Smith handed the pressure back over to the Judges by winning the fourth set 25-18. However, Brandeis won the tie-breaker 15-11 and improved their record to 4-1 on the season in five-set matches.

"We went into the Smith game knowing we could beat this team," Bernaiche said.

"Even though it went to five sets, we were confident and determined going into every match that we could pull it off."

The team's middle blockers led the way for the Judges' victory. Lauren Berens '13 had a season high 12 kills and added two block assists, Becca Fischer '13 had 10 kills and just three errors and Maddie Engeler '16 added nine kills and a career high 10 blocks, four solo.

Bernaiche said that the team's performance last weekend showed their potential going into the postseason.

"This past weekend at the Hall of Fame tournament was a big weekend for us because our team has the opportunity to excel in the postseason in the ECACs [Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference]," Bernaiche said. "We saw a lot of northeast teams, and we were hoping to compete well this weekend to put ourselves in a good place going into post-season soon."

The Judges began the tournament by beating Bridgewater State in three straight sets-25-20, 25-19 and 25-19. Brandeis' balanced attack proved to be successful, as four players recorded double-digit performances.

Setter Yael Einhorn '14 tallied a double-double, leading the Judges with 28 assists and 11 digs.

Bernaiche had 10 digs and outside hitter Liz Hood '15 led the Judges with 10 kills. Outside hitter Si-Si Hensley '14 almost recorded a double-double with 11 kills and nine digs.
In their first game on Saturday, the Judges fell to No. 8 Middlebury College 3-0. They lost the first set 25-19. The second set was much closer, but the Judges couldn't pull off the win and fell 25-23. Middlebury dominated the third set and finished off the match with a 25-16 victory.

Bernaiche led the team with 10 digs and Einhorn had 24 assists. They were the only two players to record double-figure statistical performances. Hood had nine kills and Hensley tallied seven.

Bernaiche compared the talent level in the UAA to the schools in the Hall of Fame Invitational.

"The UAA competition level is higher than any I've personally seen," Bernaiche said.

"The UAA teams are of the highest caliber and so going into any other tournament, you wouldn't expect to see a team like Emory [University] or [Washington University]. However, we were still challenged in this weekend's tournament, as many of the teams competing this weekend were excellent, too."

Brandeis will host the Judges' Classic this weekend. The squad is slated to play play Lasell College on Friday and Keene State College and Westfield State University on Saturday.