From Brandeis University Athletics

The Brandeis University volleyball team won three tight sets after dropping the opener to visiting Bates College tonight in Auerbach Arena. The Bobcats took the first set, 25-21, but the Judges prevailed by the slimmest of margins in the next three, 25-23, 28-26, 25-23. Brandeis improves to 4-5 on the season, Bates falls to 2-4.

BRANDEIS'S BALANCED ATTACK

• The Judges continued their trend of winning by spreading the ball around thanks to sophomore setters Leah Pearlman (El Paso, Texas/El Paso) and Marlee Nork (Chicago, Ill./Walter Payton College Prep).  
• Both players registered season-highs in assists, with Pearlman establishing a career-high with 32 and Nork finish with 19, one shy of her career-best. 
• Four different Brandeis players reached double digits in kills, but none had more than 11.
• Junior Jessie Moore (Rye, N.Y./Rye), sophomore Shea Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Cal./Marymount) and rookie Emma Bartlett (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) all had 11 kills, while sophomore Zara Platt (Fountain Valley, Calif. / Fountain Valley) finished with 10.
• Moore recorded her first career double-double by adding a career-high 21 digs to her 11 kills. Her previous career-best was 10 digs.
• Decker-Jacoby led the Judges in hitting at .346, picking up just two errors in 26 attempts to get her 11 kills.
• Sophomore Kirsten Frauens (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) paced the defense to eight team blocks at the net with five block assists and one solo, while Bartlett added five block assists.
• Defensively, sophomore Yvette Cho (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) led the way with a match-high 23 digs and sophomore Grace Krumpack (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colraine) had 18.
• Cho also had a team-high four service aces, including three in a row early in the third set.

FOR BATES

• Senior Chandler McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif./Marymount) led all players with 17 kills. She also hit a team-high .262 (17 K-6 E-42 TA).
• Junior Jacqueline Forney (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South) had a double-double with 22 assists and 16 digs.
• Sophomore Claire Naughton (Darien, Conn./Darien) served up seven of the Bobcats' 13 aces.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The match featured 32 ties and 15 lead changes, including 13 ties and six lead changes in the third set and 11 ties, five lead changes in the fourth.
• The Judges' .200 team hitting percentage was their highest since the season opener against Smith, when they hit .207.
• In two of their previous three matches, Brandeis had won the first set and dropped the next three before turning the tables and doing the same to Bates tonight.