This past weekend, the Brandeis volleyball team hosted the first of three University Athletic Association Round Robin matches. The schools in the Round Robin were the #2 ranked Emory University Eagles, the #12 ranked Carnegie Mellon Tartans and the unranked University of Rochester Yellowjackets.

 The Judges’ opening match on Sept. 21 was against the Emory University Eagles, the defending national champions. The Judges were no match for the Eagles who easily defeated them with set scores of 25–12, 25–12, 25–17. This was the Judges first University Athletic Association competition of the season. 

 The Eagles jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back, walking all over the Judges in the first and second sets. In the third set, the Judges tied the Eagles at 4–4 for a short time and even took the lead at one point. However, the Eagles answered back, and from this point, dominated the set. Emma Bartlett ’20 led the Judges offensively with eight kills, three digs and five block assists for 10.5 points. Belle Scott ’21 had six kills, one dig, Marissa Borgert ’21 had 13 assists and Kaitlyn Oh ’22 had 13 digs. As a team, the Judges had a hitting percentage of -.040, six blocks, 24 digs and one ace.

 In the Judges’ second match of the day, the Carnegie Mellon Tartans took the match 1–3 with set scores of 17–25, 25–15, 25-11, 25–19. This was the Judges second UAA competitor and second loss of the season.

 The Judges took control early on in the first set, and though the Tartans were able to come back briefly and tie the set at 10–10, the Judges responded back, taking the led, which they never relinquished, winning the set 25–17. Amelia Oppenheimer ’23 had five kills and Scott had four to led the Judges. The Judges had a total of 12 kills and only three errors in 35 attacks. However, in the next two sets, the Tartans regrouped from their loss and took control, winning each set convincingly. The fourth set was completely different with the two teams trading points back and forth until Bartlett went on a service run and the Judges scored four points in a row. In order to stop the Judges momentum, the Tartans called a timeout and then came back to with 5–0 run. The score was now 16–14 and the Tartans managed to hold off the Judges and win 25–19. Overall in the match, Oppenheimer had a career-best .229 hitting percentage, career-high match of 14 kills with only six errors in 35 attempts. Oh had 19 digs, Borgert had 33 assists and two aces and Bartlett and Scott each had nine kills. As a team the Judges had a hitting percentage of .105, 5 blocks, 49 digs and five aces.

 On Sept. 22 the Judges met their final opponent in the first UAA Round Robin competition. The games were tight, bouncing back and forth. Finally, at the end of the fourth set, with the score tied 2–2, the Judges were able to defeat the Yellowjackets in the fifth set by a score of 15-8. The success of the Judges was an all-around team effort.

The Judges are now 3–10 for the season and 1–2 in the UAA. They will be hosting Roger Williams University on Friday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.