After more than doubling last year's win total, the volleyball team learned yesterday that it will be competing in postseason play this season for the first time since 2009.

Despite losing both of its matches at last weekend's 2012 University Athletic Association Tournament, the Judges' 17-5 record against New England foes earned them the top seed in the Division III Eastern College Athletic Conference New England Women's Volleyball Championship.

"We're excited to return to a postseason tournament and [extend] our season," coach Michelle Kim said. "Getting the top seed in the tournament is an honor and I attribute it to how hard our players have worked all season long."

"Everyone is really extremely happy," added setter Yael Einhorn '14. "We made it our goal to qualify for ECACs and it was good to reach our goal as a team."

Now 19-13, the Judges will play host to eighth-seeded Albertus Magnus College at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

At the UAA tournament, which was held at Emory University, the Judges lost matches to both the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester last Friday night. Brandeis automatically earned seventh place in the tournament after New York University was forced to drop out of the tournament due to Hurricane Sandy. The team finished with a 1-8 mark in UAA play.

"Overall, we improved our UAA play this year compared to last," Kim said. "I think we had a shot at doing a little better than we finished, but we belong to an extremely tough conference, and we are happy that we made at least a small improvement from last year."

Brandeis dropped to No. 16 Chicago in straight sets, 25-18, 25-13 and 25-21, in the quarterfinal tournament. The Judges amassed just a 0.50 hitting percentage as a team, its third-worst percentage this season.

"Most of our players were hitting in the negatives, but the scores were really close," middle blocker Becca Fischer '13 said. "If we had hit a little bit better, we could have taken a game or two away from them."

The Judges were able to keep things close against Chicago, though, due to some solid defensive play from the team's back row.

"Our defense did a great job," Kim said. "We kept getting touches on a lot of balls and were able [to] make Chicago work very hard to get kills against us."

Libero Elsie Bernaiche '15 led the way defensively with 18 digs. Defensive specialist Amaris Brown '16 tied a career high with 12 digs, while Einhorn chipped in 11. Offensively, middle blocker Lauren Berens '13 had eight kills and just one error.

The Judges then fell in straight sets to the University of Rochester in the semifinals of the consolation bracket. The Judges opened strongly, jumping out to a 5-2 lead in the first set, but ultimately lost by scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-21.

"Against Rochester, our effort continued to be there, but I didn't think that we necessarily executed very well," Kim said.

Outside hitter Si-Si Hensley '14 paced the team with eight kills and 13 digs. Outside hitter Liz Hood '15 also tallied eight kills, while Einhorn earned a double-double with 27 assists and 10 digs.

Despite their struggles in conference play, the Judges qualified for postseason action thanks in large part to a 17-5 record against New England foes.

The Judges were ranked 13th in the region in the latest New England Women's Volleyball Association poll.
If the Judges defeat Albertus Magnus tomorrow, they will play host to the final two rounds of the tournament on Saturday.

"ECACs will be a great opportunity for our team to put everything together that we have been working on this season," Berens added.

"My hope is that we play to our fullest potential, win, and have fun for the culmination of the season."