The Justice

Media Credit: David Sheppard-Brick Piera Carfagno '10 reaches up during last Saturday's game.

Last year, the volleyball team lost just once out of 13 tries at Red Auerbach Arena. That run of dominance has continued into the beginning of this season.

The Judges continued last season's home success in Saturday's season opener, defeating the Wentworth Institute of Technology in straight sets by a score of 25-14, 25-11, 25-16.

"I'm sure there are various factors playing into our success at home," coach Michelle Kim wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "One is that it's a great opportunity for us to show our fans what we are about, since we play so rarely at home, ... and sometimes that can be a motivating factor. Another reason may be that our players may be better rested since there's no travel involved with home matches. ... Traveling can take a lot out of you."

The squad received strong contributions from all over the court in what proved to be a team effort. Captain and All-American outside hitter Lorraine Wingenbach '09 led the way with 10 kills in 19 attempts, while middle blocker Nicole Smith '11 followed with nine kills and only one error.

Setter Abby Blasco '11 finished the day with 27 assists and seven digs, and her twin sister Paige Blasco '11 led the team with nine digs in her first match in two seasons.

"[Paige] did well for her first match back in a long time competing in a game situation, and she is definitely going to stay in the starting lineup for the time being," Kim said.

The Judges led 8-6 in the first set before handing the ball to Paige Blasco to serve for the first time in her Brandeis career.

Four points and two service winners later, the Judges had a 12-6 lead, and they never relinquished the advantage. Even a timeout by Wentworth coach Jason Jeffers couldn't stop the Judges' momentum. Blasco served out the set 25-14.

"When one player goes on a service run [like Paige did] it helps make up for the rest of the team's mistakes and makes games much easier to win," captain and right setter/middle blocker Piera Carfagno '10 said.

The second set saw a service run from another Blasco, but this time it was Abby. With the Judges already ahead 15-7, Blasco went on an eight-point service run with the help of back-to-back kills from Wingenbach. Blasco collected three of her five service aces during the stretch, and a well-executed block by Wingenbach punctuated the 25-11 set victory.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools