COLLEGE
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL FINAL SCORE
2009 NCAA Division III Championship - Tufts Regional
Final
Tufts 3, Williams 0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-23)
At Medford, MA
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Match
Statistics
MEDFORD -- Tufts University Volleyball won the NCAA New England
Regional Bracket on Saturday night with a three-set victory over
New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rivals
William College. Tufts played an almost mistake free match and
emerged with victories of 25-13, 25-16, and 25-23.
Coach Cora Thompson's Jumbos move on to the NCAA Championship
Quarterfinals for the first time in school history. The Jumbos will
travel to the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights,
Ohio for the finals which start Thursday (Nov. 19). They will play
Hope College, the Midwest champion.
The Jumbos played a smart match from the opening points, using
several tips to take an early advantage. Senior co-captain
Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, CA) had three of the
early kills as the Jumbos tipped their way to a 13-6 advantage.
Phenomenal digs by senior co-captain Dena Feiger (Long
Grove, IL) also helped to pace the Jumbos. Feiger dug 10
balls for Tufts while assisting on 43 points on the night.
Junior Kate Anderson (Berlin, MA) spiked four kills and pulled
the Ephs to within four points, but the Jumbos could not be
contained, and went on a seven-point run to seize control of the
set. Helgeson finished the first set with six kills, and would go
on to record 13 for the match. Sophomore Lexi Nicholas (San
Diego, CA) added two blocks in the 25-13 first-set
victory. Eleanor Levine (Atlanta, GA) had multiple kills en route
to a match total of eight for Williams.
Senior Whitney Hitchcock (Penfield, NY) tallied three of her
eight kills in the second set, and added a block to pull the Ephs
within two points, but the Jumbos answered back again. Junior
Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA) and first
year Brittany Neff (Culver City, CA) each added
blocks, and Updike killed four points. Updike went on to kill 13
balls in the match and added three service aces and 11 digs, while
Neff led the Jumbos with five blocks in the match. Helgeson also
contributed a service ace in the 25-16 second-set victory.
Sophomores Cara Spieler (Santa Barbara, CA) and
Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) continued to play good
defense for the Jumbos in the second set with several great digs.
Spieler dug out 12 balls in the match for Tufts, while Kuan led the
Jumbos with 19 digs.
The Ephs were able to tie the third game at 13 thanks to an ace
by junior Emily Avis (Palo Alto, CA), who also set up 26 points for
the Ephs. Libero Andrea Scioscia (Gibsonia, PA) led the Ephs in
defense with 16 digs, and added a service ace in the third game as
Williams fought to get back in the match. The Jumbos regained a
four-point lead thanks to four aces in the third game by Kuan,
three of which came in the span of four points. Tufts junior
Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, NV), the Regional
MVP, added four of her team-high 14 kills in the third set as the
Jumbos looked to close out the match. Anderson found her stroke
again late in the set, driving home three of her 13 kills to pull
the game to one point, but Joyce-Mendive was equal to the task, and
powered Tufts University to the straight-set victory with a 25-23
win.
"Our goals were to start out strong with our serve, play great
defense and get a lot of touches on them," Thompson said. "They're
great hitters, so we knew we probably wouldn't stuff block them a
lot. We wanted to slow the ball down so that our defense would have
a chance. I thought the defense played it perfectly. They played
such composed volleyball from the very first point to the last, and
I was so proud of that. We didn't get too far ahead of ourselves
and we stayed level-headed. We were excited to be in the regional
final, but just the right amount. You can't ask for more."
The Jumbos (31-4) turned the tables on a Williams team that beat
them in straight sets in last week's NESCAC Championship match. It
was the third year in a row that the Ephs had knocked the Jumbos
out of the NESCAC tournament. Williams finished the 2009 season
with a 23-9 record. Tufts will now represent New England in
Ohio.
"It's so exciting, it feels surreal right now," Thompson said.
"We'll give it our best shot. We're a great group of athletes and
we have great senior leadership right now. They're just refusing to
lose and I think that's a great mentality. Coming off two great
wins like this (including the regional semi-final over Wellesley),
I feel like we've got good momentum going into this tournament.
We're just going to embrace the opportunity."
In addition to Joyce-Mendive earning MVP, Feiger and Updike were
on the Regional All-Tournament team. Anderson and Avis from
Williams were also All-Tournament selections, along with
Wellesley's Elizabeth Campbell (Solona Beach, CA) and UMass
Boston's Kate McWhorter (Bakersfield, CA).
2009 NCAA New England Region
Champions
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