COLLEGE
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL FINAL SCORE
2009 NCAA Division III Championship Quarterfinal
Hope 3, Tufts 1 (25-17, 25-23, 29-31, 25-15)
At University Heights, OH
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Match
Statistics
|
Senior co-captain Brogie
Helgeson led Tufts with 15 digs in the last match of her Tufts
career
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UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Oh. -- The Tufts University volleyball
team's historic 2009 season came to an end on Thursday afternoon
when the Jumbos lost 3-1 to Hope College in the quarterfinal round
of the NCAA Division III Championship at John Carroll University.
Down 2-0 after dropping the first two sets 25-17 and 25-23, the
Jumbos battled back and won the third set 31-29. However, the
Flying Dutch - the #6 ranked team in the nation - won the fourth
set 25-15 to take the match.
After the first two sets provided some if not significant drama,
the third set of this match had all the spectators on the edge of
their seat. Tufts fought off five match points before producing a
victory in the longest game of any match on the day.
"I couldn't be more proud of them," said Tufts head coach Cora
Thompson. "Although the outcome was disappointing, the effort was
not."
The trio of Hope's Andrea Helminiak, Sara DeWeerdt, and Jacie
Fiedler proved vital to Hope's efforts in producing its
school-record 34th win of the season. Helminak, the only player
from Ohio among the eight teams that advanced to Cleveland, had 47
assists. DeWeerdt and Fiedler combined for 32 kills. Hope College
advances to face Washington University in the semifinals. Hope's
previous encounter with Washington ended in a victory for Hope.
The Jumbos were led by 22 kills from junior Dawson
Joyce-Mendive (Minden, NV). She had eight errors in 47
total swings, giving her a fine .298 hitting percentage for the
match. Junior Caitlin
Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA) added 12 kills to the
Tufts attack. The Jumbos hit .195 overall with 52 kills and 23
errors in 149 attempts.
Making their first appearance in the NCAA Championship round,
the Jumbos' nerves were apparent in their service game as they made
11 errors. Senior setter Dena Feiger
(Long Grove, IL) finished with 45 assists in the four sets
and also contributed 13 digs. Tufts was led by 15 digs from senior
co-captain Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, CA).
First-year Brittany
Neff (Culver City, CA) was in on five blocks at the
net, including four assists.
Hope (34-3) received an outstanding game from Jacie Fiedler, who
had 18 kills and just three errors in 35 attempts for a .429
percentage. Sara DeWeerdt added 14 kills with just four errors in
27 attempts (.370). Traci Baker served three aces. Kristen Johnson
led three players in double-digits for digs with 13. Kara
VandeGuchte had a solo block and three assists.
Coach Cora Thompson's Tufts team finishes the year with a 31-5
record, the most wins in school history. The Jumbos won their
first-ever NCAA New England Region title to earn the trip to the
national quarterfinals. Tufts is the first New England team to win
a set in an NCAA quarterfinal match since 2004.
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