On Oct. 16, the Judges suffered a devastating 0–3 loss to the 13th-ranked Tufts University Jumbos. The first set included a seemingly remarkable comeback as the Judges, down 18–11, fought back with an 8–1 run and tied the match at 19 all. Emma Bartlett ’20 was the standout during this run, contributing two kills and a block assist. However, the Jumbos regrouped and began fighting back. Though the Judges continued to persevere with scores of 23–21 and then 24–23, two forced Brandeis errors caused the Judges to eventually lose the set by a narrow margin of two points. The set score was 26–24. 

During the next two sets the Jumbos took control after very early tie scores and then never looked back, outplaying the Judges with scores of 25–10 and 25–18 in the second and third sets, respectively. On the offense, the Judges were led by Amelia Oppenheimer ’23 and Bartlett, each having seven kills. Marissa Borgert ’22 played a great offensive game, with 17 assists, five kills and no errors, and had five digs and four blocks on defense. Tying for match high honors was Kaitlyn Oh ’22, with 11 digs and three service aces.

On Sunday, the Judges participated in their third University Athletic Association Round Robin tournament against the Washington University in Saint Louis Bears and the New York University Violets at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Judges’ first match was at 12 p.m. against the Bears in the Horsburgh Gym, which the Bears won 3–1. Though the Judges gave it a good effort, the Bears came out fast in the first two sets, defeating the Judges 25–16 in both. In the third set, the Judges changed things up and rallied to beat the Bears 25–17. The fourth set saw Brandeis hold a slight lead until the Bears tied the score at seven all. From this point on, the teams kept pace with each other until the Bears ultimately won the hard-fought set by a narrow margin of two points. The final score was 25–23 as a result of a kill and an attack error by Oppenheimer. Bartlett led the team defensively with eight digs and three blocks and offensively with a match-high 16 kills and only four errors in 43 attacks.

The second match of the day was played at 2 p.m. against NYU. The Violets defeated the Judges in four sets by a match score of 3–1. Starting out hot, the Violets took an early lead in the series by winning the first two sets by scores of 25–18 and 25–19. In the third set, the Judges changed up their game plan and defeated the Violets 21–25. However, in the fourth and final set, the Violets and the Judges played a close set, with the Judges coming back from 20–16 score to tie the Violets at 20 all. Ultimately, the Violets came back and defeated the Judges 25–22. 

The Judges are now 4–17 overall and 1–6 in the UAA. Next week, Brandeis will face the Emmerson College Lions and the Manhattanville College Valiants in a Tri-Match at Emerson College on Oct. 26. Brandeis will attend the UAA championship, where the Judges will enter as the seventh seed, on Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9 at the University of Chicago.