Blue Volleyball Opens 2015 with 3-2 Victory Over Brandeis

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Wellesley College volleyball rallied from a two sets to one deficit to defeat host Brandeis University in five sets, 3-2, in non-conference action on day one of the 2015 Brandeis Invitational. The Blue earn their first victory of the season while the Judges drop to 1-3 overall.

Wellesley first year Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.)  tallied a team-high 11 kills in her collegiate debut, adding a team-high four service aces while tallying five digs and a pair of block assists. Junior Brooke Fieldman (Greenwood Village, Colo.) collected a match-high 18 digs to go along with three service aces for the Blue. Sophomore Katie Yan (Cohoes, N.Y.) also finished in double-figures with 11 digs, while first year Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) dished out the first 24 assists of her collegiate career.

Shea Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Grace Krumpack (Cincinnati, Ohio) each recorded double-digit kills for the Judges, with Decker-Jacoby putting down a match-high 14 and Krumpack adding 12 of her own. Krumpack also added eight digs. First year Yvette Cho (San Diego, Calif.) added a team-high 17 digs to pace the Brandeis defense, while first year Leah Pearlman (El Paso, Texas) led all players with a match-high 30 assists.

Wellesley fought through a sluggish start to take the opening set 25-23, as a pair of Brandeis errors broke a 23-all tie to give the Blue the victory. The Judges jumped to a 14-8 lead early in the set, before Wellesley rallied back to tie the score at 14-all on a kill from first year Elise Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.). With no more than a pair of points separating the teams for the remainder of the set, the Blue took the final two to take the 1-0 match lead.

In the second set, the Blue jumped out to the early advantage, taking a 16-10 lead on an ace from Fieldman midway through the frame. However, the Judges battled back, scoring nine of the next eleven points in the match, capped by an ace from first year Allison Harmsworth (Bradenton, Fla.), to take a 19-18 advantage. A kill from Wellesley senior Courtney Lang (Seattle, Wa.) knotted the score at 19-all but the Blue would be unable to recapture the lead as Brandeis took the second set, 25-22.

The hosts carried the momentum into the third set, running out to an early lead, as a kill from Krumpack gave the Judges a 10-5 advantage. Brandeis led throughout the third set, eventually stretching their edge to 21-10 before closing out a comfortable 25-14 third set victory on a kill by Krumpack.

The Blue responded in the fourth set, earning a 25-14 victory of their own to force the deciding fifth game. Four consecutive kills from first year Ashley Peng (San Diego, Calif.), sophomore Eryn Halvey (La Verne, Calif.), Lang and Griffin gave Wellesley an 11-5 lead. The Blue continued to cruise from there, as Fieldman delivered back-to-back kills to cap a 5-0 run that made the score 19-10. Brandeis broke the run with a pair of points before Wellesley ran off five of the final seven points, with Lang delivering the final kill, for the 25-14 victory.

In the fifth set, Brandeis jumped to a 2-0 lead before Wellesley quickly tied the set. Decker-Jacoby and Reece then exchanged kills to make the score 3-all before four consecutive Brandeis errors gave Wellesley a 7-3 advantage. The Blue would hold the lead for the remainder of the match. Kills from Krumpack and junior Jessica Kaufman (Tucson, Ariz.) and a Wellesley error brought the Judges back to within one, at 7-6. Peng then put down put her fourth and final kill of the night to make the score 8-6, before Halvey delivered a kill to make it 9-6. Brandeis again rallied to cut the deficit to one, but would get no closer than 9-8 as the Blue eventually closed out the 15-11 set victory thanks to an emphatic kill from Reece and a Brandeis error.

The Brandeis Invitational will continue all-day tomorrow, with Wellesley set to take on Keene St. at 12:00 PM and Johnson & Wales (RI) at 2:00 PM at Shapiro Gym. The host Judges will entertain Endicott at 12:00 PM and Southern Me. at 2:00 PM. The full tournament schedule can be found online at http://brandeisjudges.com/sports/wvball/2015-16/InviteSchedule.