WALTHAM, Mass.—The William Smith volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 win over Brandeis this evening to open the 2026 New England Classic. With the win, the Herons improve to 6-1 overall, while the Judges fall to 4-5 on the season.
William Smith put up impressive numbers in the sweep over Brandeis. The Herons combined for 39 kills, hitting .344 as a team, while the Judges combined for 31 kills (.147) as a team. William Smith held a 12-8 edge in service aces in the non-conference win as well as a 9-2 advantage in blocks and a 35-26 edge in assists. The Herons also combined for 46 digs as a team, while Brandeis tallied 45 collectively.
Junior Emily Fulton led William Smith with 12 kills, hitting .423 in the sweep. Fulton added 11 digs, for her third consecutive double-double, three blocks and two service aces. First-year Cassidy Breuer chipped in 12 kills (.393), four digs, one block and one service ace in the win. Classmate Jayden Hanson added eight kills on zero errors, hitting 471 through three sets. Hanson added eight assists, five digs, five blocks, and two service aces in the sweep.
Katya Belyakova led Brandeis with seven kills (.130), two digs and two blocks, while Emmory Casto added seven kills (.120), six digs and two service aces in the loss. Camila Valenzuela led the Judges with 14 assists and added eight digs, three service aces and two kills.
MATCH MOMENTS:
- William Smith came out strong in the opening set, putting down 14 kills (.333) as a team, while holding Brandeis to a match-low eight kills (.051). The early back-and-forth action resulted in a 3-0 scoring run for the Herons and a service ace from Vanderhoof would close out the opening set in favor of William Smith, 25-21.
- The Herons turned up the heat in the second set, putting down a match-high 16 kills (.389) while only tallying two hitting errors as a team. The Judges also combined for a match-high, putting down 14 kills (.237) but racked up five hitting errors. Two big kills by Breuer would close out the set with a 25-19 win for the Herons.
- William Smith closed out the sweep with a dominant performance in the final set. The Herons combined for nine kills (.292) and held the Judges to just nine kills (.160). William Smith opened up the third set on an 11-2 scoring run and never looked back. The Herons closed out the final set on top, 25-16, thanks to a service ace from Fulton.
MATCH STATS:
- Fulton (.423) and Breuer (.393) led the Herons with 12 kills each in the win. Hanson added eight (.471), while junior Arielle Newsome added four out of the middle (.333). Senior Maren Hunt (.143), junior Kali Vanderhoof (1.000) and first-year Senya Dorny added one kill each in the win.
- Junior Delainy Williams and Hanson led William Smith from the setter position and tallied 19 and eight assists each, respectively. Williams chipped in 10 digs, and two aces, while Hanson added eight kills (.471), five digs, five blocks and two aces in the sweep.
- William Smith combined for 46 digs as a team in the win and were led by Vanderhoof with 14. Fulton chipped in 11, while Williams added 10 digs through three sets. Hanson tallied five digs, while Breuer chipped in four digs against the Judges.
- The Herons served up 12 aces in the win and were led by Newsome with three. Vanderhoof, Fulton, Williams and Hanson added two each, while Breuer chipped in one ace for William Smith.
- The Green and White tallied nine blocks in the win and were led by Hanson with five. Newsome added four blocks while Hunt chipped in three.
COACHES CORNER:
"I was really happy with how our team played tonight," said Head Coach Derryk Williams. "It's a long trip out here, so the preparation to be able to get off a bus and compete at an elite level was great. We have two huge matches tomorrow so I'm excited for us to rest and get ready to go!"
UP NEXT:
William Smith will be back in action tomorrow to compete on Day 2 of the 2026 New England Classic. The Herons will take on Smith at 12:30 p.m. before going toe-to-toe with No. 22 Babson at 3 p.m.
