Brandeis Spoils Volleyball’s Season Opener in Straight Sets

WALTHAM, Mass. – Suffolk volleyball came out on the wrong side of a straight set decision at Brandeis in its 2021 debut at Red Auerbach Arena. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 0 | Brandeis 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (0-1) | Brandeis (1-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Brandeis quickly took care of business in the first and second set, winning each by near identical scores. The Judges opened the action 1-0 with a 25-14 decision, before making it a two-set lead behind a 25-15 second stanza score.  

The Rams battled back in the third and almost forced a fourth frame. Brandeis managed to sandwiched two kills around a blue-and-gold attack miscue to rally three points in a row to seal the straight set deal.  

SET ONE RECAP (25-14, BRANDEIS)

• See-saw action began as the lead exchanged and tied four times with Suffolk up, 5-4. 
• The Judges scored three straights to go ahead, 7-5. 
• That advantage blossomed to an 11-7 edge, which nearly doubled at 19-11. 
• Back-and-forth action ensued after a Rams timeout, but it would not be enough as Brandeis outscored the visitors 5-1 down the stretch including a 4-0 run to grab the 25-14 win.

SET TWO RECAP (25-15, BRANDEIS)

• Brandeis jumped out to a 6-0 cushion. 
• The blue-and-gold found itself trailing, 14-5, at the midway point. 
• The hosts put up three points on either side of a Suffolk timeout to go ahead 20-7.
• Harmony Johnson's kill sparked a late Rams' rally that pulled the visitors within 10, 20-10. 
• The teams traded points the rest of the way and the distance proved to be too great to make up. 
  

SET THREE RECAP (26-24, BRANDEIS) 

• Similar to the second, Brandeis gained a 4-0 lead to get going. 
• Suffolk did not waste time catching up and kept things interesting. 
• The Rams were down by two points up until an attack error by the Judges' Rita Lai allowed the blue-and-gold to string three straight points together. That stretch gave Suffolk a 15-14 edge. 
• The scoreboard level eight times after that with one of the lasts coming at 23-all.
• Suffolk was one point away from forcing a fourth set when Lara Verstovsek registered an attack error for Brandeis. 
• Verstovsek made up for it on the next play with a set-tying kill that sparked a Judges' 3-0 push that locked up the set and match win. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Jasmine James anchored Suffolk's 27-kill attack with six of her own. 
• Julia Leavy supplied six kills to the attack which saw four kills apiece from Alina Nowakowski and McKenna Keowen. 
• Keowen was the backbone of the defense with seven digs. 
• Morgan Kelsey chipped in six digs, two assits and one ace.
• Harmony Johnson, who added three kills, and Jayla Martinez each set up the offense with 11 and six assists, respectively.  

NOTEWORTHY

• The blue-and-gold hit the road for its first match of the campaign for the first time in the Scott Blanchard era and first time since 2015. 
• The Rams met Brandeis for just the third time since 2003, first since 2005. 
• Shannon Malloy, Emily Wheeler, Morgan Kelsey, Lauren Harper, Emma Rezendes, James, Leavey, Isabelle Huzar, Gabby Elbrecht, Nowakowski, Keown, Zoe Bogle, Tatum Kalt and Martinez all made their collegiate debuts.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk has a hectic weekend ahead with back-to-back battles in East Boston. The Rams entertain Westfield State Saturday, Sept. 4 in game two of a Suffolk soccer doubleheader at 3 p.m., before welcoming Lasell to East Boston Memorial Park Sunday, Sept. 5 for a 12 p.m. kick-off.