The 16th-ranked Case Western Reserve University volleyball team split a pair of matches on the first day of the 2024 University Athletic Association Championship hosted by the University of Rochester at the Goergen Athletic Center in Rochester, New York, on Friday, defeating Brandeis University in four sets in the quarterfinal before falling to 11th-ranked Washington University in St. Louis in four sets in the semifinal.

The second-seeded Spartans moved to 24-6 on the season. The seventh-seeded Judges dropped to 16-12, while the third-seeded Bears improved to 28-5. CWRU will face the fifth-seeded University of Chicago in the Third-Place Match on Saturday at 10 a.m.

(2) CWRU 3, (7) Brandeis 1 (23-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-23)

After Brandeis led by three early, the teams evenly battled until the end of the first set. The Judges pulled ahead, 16-14, with a 4-0 run, before the Spartans responded with a 4-1 run to take a one-point lead. After Brandeis tied the score at 21, senior Rea Marfatia put down a kill to give CWRU the lead. The Judges scored the next three points, giving them serve for the set. Following a kill by senior Lily Crouch that extended the set, Brandeis took a 1-0 lead on a kill.

Leading 10-9 in the second set, CWRU used a 5-2 run to take a four-point advantage. Brandeis responded, winning eight of the following nine rallies to go ahead 19-16. Five points later, a Brandeis service error ignited a 4-0 run that allowed Case Western Reserve to claim a 22-21 lead. Three consecutive kills had Brandeis serving for the second set, ahead 24-22. Junior Amanda Ngo buried a kill, and the Spartans forced an attacking error to tie the score at 24. Ngo followed with another kill to put CWRU ahead. Brandeis evened the score at 25 before back-to-back blocks finished the set for Case Western Reserve.

The Spartans started the pivotal third set with a 5-1 run, and the team did not concede the lead for the remainder of the period. With the score tied at seven, Case Western Reserve used an 8-3 run to gain a five-point advantage, its largest of the set to that point. Brandeis cut its deficit to three, but a kill by junior Kalli Wall and back-to-back Judges' attacking errors put CWRU ahead 20-14. The Judges would not go away quietly, winning five of the next seven points to trim their deficit back to three. However, a service error ended their run, and a kill by Ngo and a block by senior Carly Scott and Ngo ended the set for the Spartans.

Potentially facing its final frame, Brandeis started the fourth set with four points in a row. A 6-2 Spartan run tied the score at six, and a later 4-0 run gave the Spartans a 12-8 advantage. Brandeis cut its deficit to two, 15-13, before a 5-1 Spartan run gave the team a six-point lead. The Judges battled back, winning five consecutive rallies to make the score 22-21 in favor of CWRU. An attacking error ended the run, but a kill brought Brandeis within one once again. Senior Chloe Maciejewski connected on an attack to put the Spartans one point away from clinching the match. Brandeis kept the set alive with a kill before Ngo connected on her 13th kill of the match to send Case Western Reserve to the UAA Semifinals for the second consecutive season.

Ngo led the team with 13 kills, making just two errors on 28 attacks. Marfatia added 12 kills (.300 hitting percentage) and nine digs, and Maciejewski contributed eight kills. Defensively, first-year Sophia Datto paced the squad with 15 digs, and first-year Avery Basinger added nine to go along with a team-high 23 assists. At the net, Crouch and Scott both had four blocks.

(3) WashU 3, (2) CWRU 1 (21-25, 25-20, 15-25, 25-27)

After the teams split the first two points, a 10-1 WashU run gave the Bears a nine-point advantage. The Spartans rallied, scoring seven of the next eight points to cut their deficit to three, 12-9. The teams split the next four serves after a WashU timeout, before an attacking error brought CWRU within two. The Bears increased their lead to six by winning the next four points. The Spartans were able to cut their deficit to four at 24-20 and a block from Scott and Ngo kept Case Western Reserve alive in the set. WashU regrouped after a timeout and closed the set with a kill.

After WashU tied the score of the second set at 14, the Spartans put down four consecutive kills to gain an advantage. The Bears scored twice in a row to half their deficit, but CWRU scored three times on a kill by Maciejewski, a kill by Ngo, and a service ace from sophomore Emily Goodpaster to lead by five. The teams split the final eight points of the period with a kill by Crouch ending the set in favor of Case Western Reserve.

The teams traded 5-0 runs early in the third set, and a kill by Maciejewski tied the score at nine. An 8-2 WashU run gave the Bears a six-point lead, and the Spartans could only come within five points for the remainder of the stanza.

After the Bears won the first point of the fourth set, a 9-1 Spartan run gave CWRU a seven-point advantage. WashU trimmed the deficit to three before a kill by Maciejewski and back-to-back kills by Ngo gave the Spartans a 14-8 lead. The Bears battled back, eventually taking a 19-18 advantage. Case Western Reserve responded, retaking a 21-20 lead on a service ace by Basinger. The teams traded points with the Spartans tying the score at 22 and 23. A WashU kill put the Bears ahead 24-23, but an attacking error and a block by Crouch gave Case Western Reserve a 25-24 advantage. However, the Bears won the final three rallies, clinching the match with a block.

Marfatia (13), Ngo (11), and Crouch (10) each finished with double-digit kills in the match. Marfatia and Datto tied for the team lead with 15 digs with Goodpaster adding 13 and Basinger contributing 11. Crouch finished with six total blocks, and Scott had a team-high 25 assists.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans entered the day 16th in the latest NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings, which are used to determine the at-large selections to the NCAA Tournament. The team began play on Friday as the fourth-highest ranked team without a projected automatic bid
• CWRU earned the second seed in the conference tournament for the first time in program history
• The Spartans improved to 28-8 against the Judges since 2002, including victories in the last nine meetings
• Case Western Reserve is looking to place third in the conference for the second consecutive season and fourth time overall. It would be the team's second highest ever conference placement
• Ngo recorded at least 10 kills for the 11th and 12th times this season and finished the day with 94.0 total blocks in 2024, the fifth most by a Spartan in program history. Krissa Kean set the school record with 116 blocks in 1998
• With back-to-back matches of double-digit kills, Marfatia has reached the milestone in 25 of the team's 30 matches this season