The volleyball squad lost their match against host Emerson College last Thursday, winning the first set 25-21 before falling in straight sets by 25-20, 25-17 and 25-16 margins. The Judges dropped to a 9-13 overall record.

After a seismic 3-0 win against the University of Rochester, a University Athletic Association rival, one would imagine that Brandeis would be full of confidence.

However, as middle blocker Carly Gutner-Davis '15 said, the team lacked intensity on Thursday, which played a major role in the Judges falling despite seizing an early lead.

"The team that stepped on the court yesterday to play against Emerson was not the same team that beat [Rochester] in the UAA tournament this past weekend," Gutner-Davis said. "The team's overall energy was lower than usual, as was our intensity and focus. Everything was off, and simply put, as a team, we had an off day, where things just weren't clicking like they normally do. It doesn't mean that people weren't trying hard, it just means that we didn't bring our A-game to the match against Emerson."

The squad started off strong, taking the first set by a 25-21 margin. The Judges jumped to a quick lead, scoring the first eight points and putting up an 18.5 attack percentage. Outside hitter Liz Hood '15 had six kills in the set.

Gutner-Davis, who led the Judges with a career-high 15 kills in the match, said that taking an early lead led to the first-set victory.

"Starting out strong and taking the lead always helps our team, and that is exactly what we did in the first set," she said.
"By taking the lead quickly and running some great plays, we built up momentum and brought up our energy and intensity levels as a whole, which helped carry us through the first set. We focused on taking the set each point at a time, controlling our play and what went on our side of the court, and shaking off any errors quickly in order to sideout faster."

The second and third sets were a different story for the Judges. They tallied 14 kills and 10 errors in the second set and 11 kills and eight errors in the third. Gutner-Davis cited the team's lack of confidence as a reason for the losses.

"Instead of getting a quick sideout to get the ball back, or shaking off our errors and focusing on making the next contact and next play better, we struggled," she said. "Our mentality changed and instead of playing with confidence, we were playing with hesitance-afraid to make errors."

Though the Judges took a 4-3 lead in the fourth set, the Lions went on a 12-1 run to take the lead for good. Brandeis had 31 errors compared to just 17 for Emerson. As the Judges approach their next UAA Round Robin, Gutner-Davis noted that they could be successful with the right level of cohesiveness and energy.

"I have seen our team play at its best and at its worst-and I know how much potential we have and what we can accomplish when we bring our best game to the court," she said.
"Our team has to come out and play with a lot of energy and intensity. We all have to bring positive attitudes on to the court, shake off errors quickly and celebrate each point, one at a time. Most importantly, we have to play as a team, not as individuals, and we have to play with confidence. Once we bring all of those things together, and each player is playing their heart out and leaving everything they have on the court, we will again be successful."

The Judges are off until next Saturday, when they will face Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western Reserve University in the second UAA Round Robin of the season.