The 14th-ranked Case Western Reserve University volleyball team split a pair of matches on Sunday at the second University Athletic Association Round Robin hosted by Washington University in St. Louis in the WashU Field House, falling to 23rd-ranked New York University in three sets and defeating Brandeis University in five sets.
The Spartans moved to 17-3 on the season and 3-2 in UAA contests. The Violets improved to 13-8 and 2-3 in the UAA, and the Judges fell to 11-10 overall and 0-5 in conference contests.
Senior outside hitter Rea Marfatia led the team with 17 kills and four service aces and added 24 digs across the two matches. Junior middle blocker Amanda Ngo totaled 14 kills and 14 blocks, including a career-high 11 blocks against Brandeis, and senior middle blocker Lily Crouch contributed 12 kills and 10 total blocks. Defensively, first-year libero Sophia Datto had 32 digs during the day to lead the team, and junior outside hitter Kalli Wall added seven total blocks. First-year setter Avery Basinger (30 assists) and senior setter/right-side hitter Carly Scott (24 assists, 13 digs) split the setting duties in both matches.
#23 NYU 3 #14 CWRU 0 (22-25, 12-25, 14-25)
CWRU started the match by winning five of the first six points. After the Violets tied the score at five, the Spartans twice opened leads of four points, 9-5 and 12-8, to prompt an NYU timeout. New York cut its deficit to two, but a 4-1 run with two kills by Ngo and a service ace from Datto put the Spartans ahead by five. NYU responded by winning four of the following five points, but CWRU reclaimed a four-point advantage, 20-16. Four consecutive NYU points tied the score at 20 and prompted the final Spartan timeout of the set. After the break, the Violets won five of the final seven points to win the first set 25-22.
NYU continued its momentum in the beginning of the second set by taking five of the first six rallies. The Spartans cut their deficit to one, 6-5, but the Violets regained their four-point advantage at 12-8. A quick 3-1 run brought Case Western Reserve within two; however, New York closed the set on a 12-1 run to claim a 2-0 lead in the match.
NYU opened the third set with a 6-1 run and did not trail in the period, clinching the match with a 25-14 set victory.
#14 CWRU 3, Brandeis 2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-13, 19-25, 15-11)
The Spartans led early in the first set by as many as four points, 8-4. Brandeis won seven of the next nine points to take an 11-10 lead. A kill by Marfatia evened the score, but the Judges reclaimed a two-point advantage. Four consecutive CWRU points gave the lead back to Case Western Reserve, 16-14, but Brandeis responded with a 4-0 run of its own. A block by Ngo and senior right-side hitter Chloe Maciejewski tied the score at 18. The Judges then pulled ahead by four, winning five of the next six rallies. A kill from Basinger brought the Spartans within three, but Brandeis had kills on two of the final three points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
With a 3-0 run early in the second set, Brandeis led 10-6 to prompt a Spartan timeout. Case Western Reserve took five of the seven points after the break to cut its deficit to one. Marfatia had a pair of kills, Crouch had a kill, and Ngo and Maciejewski teamed for a block to ignite the run. After the Judges called a timeout, back-to-back service aces by Datto put the Spartans ahead. Brandeis quickly tied the score at 13, but two block assists by junior middle blocker Kiya Levy gave CWRU a two-point edge. After a Brandeis kill, Wall responded with one of her own and Marfatia had back-to-back service aces to put the Spartans up four, 18-14. CWRU increased its lead to five, 20-15, on a block by Wall and Ngo. Brandeis battled back, winning four of the next five rallies to cut its deficit to two. The teams traded kills, and a service ace brought Brandeis within one. After a service error, the Judges put down an attack to make the score 23-22. Marfatia put the Spartans a point away from clinching the set with her seventh kill of the match. Brandeis earned a point to stay alive, but Wall finished the set with her fifth kill to even the match at one.
Case Western Reserve won the first four points of the pivotal third set and led by as many as six, 14-8, early in the stanza. The Spartans extended their lead to nine, 19-10, on a service ace by senior defensive specialist Jolie Held that capped a 5-2 run. Back-to-back kills by Maciejewski put CWRU up 10, and the team finished the set by claiming four of the final six points to lead the match 2-1.
Needing to win the fourth set to keep the match alive, the Judges used a 6-2 early run to lead 12-5. The Spartans responded with three consecutive points on a kill by Ngo, a block from Ngo and Crouch, and a kill by Maciejewski. After Brandeis stopped the run, kills by Ngo and Basinger cut the CWRU deficit to three, 13-10. A service ace later in the stanza put the Judges up 18-12. A 4-1 Spartan run brought the team back within three points, but back-to-back Brandeis kills made the score 21-16. A kill by Crouch cut the CWRU deficit to three; however, that would be the smallest Spartan deficit of the set as Brandeis won the final three points to force a decisive fifth set.
The Spartans won the first three points of the final set and maintained the lead until Brandeis tied the score at seven with a service ace. Kills by Ngo and Crouch put Case Western Reserve ahead, but the Judges followed with a pir of kills to tie the score again. After the teams traded the next four points, Marfatia's 12th kill of the match ignited a 4-0 set-ending run that secured the match for CWRU. The final point of the match was Marfatia's 13th kill, giving her 1,000 during her time in Cleveland.
The Spartans will resume their non-conference schedule this weekend with a pair of matches at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. CWRU will face Muskingum at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 19 followed by a contest against the host Cardinals at 3 p.m.
Spartan Notes
- Ngo's 11 total blocks against Brandeis were tied for the third-most by a single player in program history and were the most since Tricia McCutchan had 11 against Rochester on November 7, 2009
- CWRU totaled 18 blocks as a team against Brandeis, tied for the seventh most in program history in a single contest and the most since the team had 19 against Mount Union earlier this year
- Marfatia became the 13th player in program history to record at least 1,000 kills in her career and the first since Brianna Lemon in 2019. Marfatia is the third player in program history with at least 1,000 career kills, 1,000 digs, and 100 service aces, joining former Spartans Lindsey Deyer (1998-2000) and Heather Nappi (2003-05)
- Both Crouch and Scott reached 100 career blocks during the day, becoming the 32nd and 33rd players in program history to reach the milestone. Ngo, who achieved 100 career blocks in the third match of the season, ranks 18th in program history with 161 total blocks during her career
- The Spartans improved to 27-8 against Brandeis since 2002 with wins in the last eight matches and 22 of the last 23 matchups
- With two conference matches left, the Spartans are tied with Chicago and WashU for third in the UAA standings with a record of 3-2. Emory (5-0) is in first place, followed by Carnegie Mellon (4-1). Trailing CWRU are NYU (2-3), Brandeis (0-5), and Rochester (0-5)
