COLLEGE
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL FINAL SCORE
2009 NCAA Division III Championship - Tufts Regional
Semi-final
Tufts 3, Wellesley 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-19)
At Medford, MA
Friday, November 13, 2009
Match
Statistics
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Sophomore Lexi Nicholas had six kills and three
block assists to help Tufts to the NCAA regional final
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MEDFORD -- Tufts University swept the Wellesley Blue in the NCAA
Division III Volleyball Championship Regional Semi-finals on Friday
night to advance to Saturday's regional championship match. The
Jumbos won by scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-19. Tufts will face
Williams in an all New England Small College Athletic Conference
(NESCAC) regional final tomorrow at 7:00 pm.
The top seeded Jumbos started the match with an 11-5 lead on the
legs of two kills and a service ace by junior Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA). Updike tallied seven kills
on the night. The Blue fought back with kills by first years Isabel
Custodio (Powell, OH) and Elizabeth Campbell (Solona Beach, CA).
Campbell would go on to kill 10 balls on the evening, while
Custodio assisted on 23 points. Another ace by Updike gave the
Jumbos an eight-point lead, and Wellesley could not close the gap
enough despite an ace by Campbell and several great digs by libero
Naomi Iwata (Seattle, WA). Iwata co-led the Blue with 10 digs on
the night. Tufts took the 1-0 lead with a 25-20 victory.
Despite few kills early in the second set, Tufts built a
five-point advantage. Junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden,
NV) was critical in the offensive attack, adding three
kills and two consecutive service aces. Mendive served three aces
in the match and led the Jumbos with 13 kills. The Wellesley
offense came alive in the second set behind first year Taylor King
(Walnut Creek, CA). She added five of her 11 kills in the second
set, and sophomore Amanda Duritsch (Troy, OH) pitched in two more
in the set. Tufts got a few key blocks from sophomore Lexi
Nicholas (San Diego, CA), and the Jumbo lead fluctuated
between four and six points. Another late ace from Elizabeth
Campbell was not enough for the Blue, and the home team won by the
exact same score in the second set, 25-20.
Joyce-Mendive was big in the third set as well, adding another
ace and several more kills, and Tufts was off to a familiar
five-point lead. Senior Alice Kate Cummings (Tallahassee, FL), who
dug 10 balls for Wellesley in the match, added a service ace in the
third set, but Tufts was able to trade points through the third
game due to their early lead. First year Brittany Neff
(Culver City, CA) added three big kills down the stretch
for the Jumbos, while setter Dena Feiger (Long Grove,
IL) set up 30 points in the semi-final victory. Sophomore
Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) led all players with
17 digs, and the top seeded Jumbos finished off a workmanlike
effort with a 25-19 win in the third set.
"The key was staying loose and really just enjoying the
opportunity," Tufts coach Cora Thompson said. "We played a lot
looser tonight than I think we have in the past few matches and
really just did what the ball let us do. We took what Wellesley
would give us. We had great ball control, we were much more
disciplined on defense and actually we really served them tough.
That was one of our goals coming in. If we could knock them out of
their offense, it makes their outside hitters a little less
dangerous. We did a great job of sticking to our game plan."
Tufts improves to 30-4 on the season, setting a new program
record for victories. The win over the Blue is revenge for a
five-set loss to Wellesley in the NCAA Regional semi-final last
year at Cousens Gym. Tufts will now play Williams in a rematch of
last weekend's NESCAC championship match. The Ephs took that in
straight sets for their ninth league title.
Wellesley finished a successful season with a mark of 24-10.
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