COLLEGE
VOLLEYBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 3, Amherst 1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-16, 26-24)
At Amherst, MA
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Match
Statistics
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Audrey Kuan was the defensive leader with 29
digs as Tufts clinched the #1 seed
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AMHERST -- For the second straight year, the Tufts University
volleyball team will be the host and #1 seed for the New England
Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship. Coach Cora
Thompson's Jumbos earned the right with a four-set victory at
Amherst College in the last match of the regular season on
Saturday.
Tufts locked up the top-seed in the upcoming NESCAC Tournament
with 25-16, 20-25, 25-16, and 26-24 set wins against the Lord
Jeffs. Tufts (26-3 overall) finished 8-2 in NESCAC. Williams and
Connecticut College also had 8-2 records, but the Jumbos defeated
both squads head-to-head. Amherst (19-7, 6-4 NESCAC) will be the
sixth seed in the tournament.
Midway through the first set at Amherst, the two teams sat tied
at 12-12, before Tufts opened up a 19-14 lead to force an Amherst
time-out. After the break, Tufts scored three straight points to
take a commanding 22-14 lead, en route to a 25-16 win on an
unassisted kills by sophomore Lexi Nicholas (San Diego,
CA). In the first set, juniors Caitlin Updike
(Manhattan Beach, CA) and Dawson Joyce-Mendive
(Minden, NV) combined for nine kills to lead the Jumbos,
while Amherst's hitters had just eight kills in the
frame.
The second set was a different story for the Lord Jeffs, as
Amherst started out on 5-1 rally. During the strong start, Amherst
sophomore Katherine Kanoff (Pacific Palisades, CA) served up a pair
of aces, while classmate Cristy Meier (San Anselmo, CA) had a nice
tip kill. A kill by junior tri-captain Jackie Berkley (Fullerton,
CA) put Amherst up 11-6, and forced Tufts to use a time-out. Later
in the set, a hitting error by Tufts first-year Brittany Neff (Culver City, CA) caused Tufts to call another
time-out trailing 17-11.
Down 20-15, junior Nancy Shrodes (Manhattan Beach,
CA) came off the bench to serve for Tufts after service
errors had tripped up the Jumbos. Tufts scored on back-to-back
Shrodes serves, before another Berkley kill put Amherst ahead
21-17. The Jeffs went on to win 25-20 on a punishing kill by Meier
that caromed off a Tufts player all the way to the back
scoreboard.
Early in the third frame, Tufts took an 8-4 lead as the Jumbo
hitters scored multiple points on off-speed tip kills, while the
Lord Jeff front line struggled to find their rhythm from set two.
The Jumbos extended their lead to 17-12, forcing Amherst head coach
Sue Everden to use another time-out. Tufts ended the third set on
an 8-4 run as the combination of Updike and senior co-captain
Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, CA) took over down
the stretch. With the 25-16 win, the Jumbos took a 2-1 lead and
inched closer to clinching the top-seed in the NESCAC
Tournament.
Amherst turned the tables to start the fourth set, taking a 13-9
lead as first-year Emily Waterhouse (Sherman Oaks, CA) dished out a
pair of assists during a mid-set run to keep the Jeffs in front.
Tufts drew even at 14-14 on a clever kill by Joyce-Mendive, before
going up 18-16 as Joyce-Mendive had eight kills on just nine
attacks midway through the set. Amherst responded with big kills
from Laura Hyman and Kanoff, closing the gap to one point, before
drawing even at 22-22 on a Tufts hitting error. The Lord Jeffs tied
the game again at 24-24 on back-to-back kills from Meier, before a
Tufts kill and an Amherst hitting error sealed the win 26-24 for
the Jumbos.
For the Jumbos, Updike had a team-high 22 kills, while
Joyce-Mendive added 19 kills on just 35 attacks. Senior setter
Dena Feiger (Long Grove, IL) dished out 55 assists
for Tufts, while sophomore libero Audrey Kuan (Los Altos,
CA) had a match-high 29 digs.
On the day, Amherst was led by Berkley who was superb with 13
kills and no errors on just 20 attacks. Meier and Laura Hyman
(Glencoe, IL) combined for 20 additional kills, while Kanoff
chipped in with seven kills. Katherine Jordan (Los Altos Hills, CA)
dished out 36 assists with 13 digs for Amherst, while Rachel Yorke
(Los Angeles, CA) had a team-high 15 kills.
The 2009 NESCAC Championship Tournament will take place November
6-8 at Tufts University's newly refurbished Cousens Gymnasium.
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