COLLEGE
VOLLEYBALL FINAL SCORE
NESCAC Championship Tournament Semi-final
Tufts 3, Amherst 2 (24-26, 25-20, 15-25, 25-16, 15-8)
At Medford, MA
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Match
Statistics
|
Junior Caitlin Updike's 20 kills helped Tufts
reach the NESCAC Championship match
|
MEDFORD -- The Tufts University Volleyball team defended their
top seed on Saturday afternoon and earned a spot in the NESCAC
Championship game with a five-set comeback victory over the
fifth-seeded Amherst College Lord Jeffs. The Jumbos won by scores
of 24-26, 25-20, 15-25, 25-16, and 15-8 en route to their semifinal
win.
Tufts (28-3) will face Williams College in the conference
championship match on Sunday at noon in Cousens Gym. The Ephs won
in three sets over Connecticut College during Saturday's other
semi-final. Meanwhile, Amherst finishes its season with a 20-8
mark.
Early hitting mistakes hurt the Jumbos, as they fell behind to a
determined Amherst team. The Lord Jeffs' early offense was led by
Cristy Meier (San Anselmo, CA) and Jackie Berkley (Fullerton, CA),
who opened the match with two kills each, and by two service aces
from Callie Neilson (Escondido, CA). The home team was able to get
back into the game, tying it at 18, and went on two runs of four
points, including a service ace by Caitlin Updike
(Manhattan Beach, CA). However, with the help of one of
Meier's 13 kills in the match, Amherst secured a first-set
victory.
The beginning of the second set showed how closely matched these
two teams were, as they exchanged the first nine points of the
game. Several kills by sophomore Katherine Kanoff (Pacific
Palisades, CA), who had 13 kills and 23 digs in the match, led an
Amherst charge. After a Tufts timeout, an Amherst service error
sided out for the Jumbos, who took the opportunity to seize
momentum. Tufts came roaring back with a 7-1 run, capped by a big
block by first-year Brittany Neff (Culver City,
CA) to tie the game at 13. Great digs were on display
again in the second game, particularly from Tufts sophomore
Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) with 24 total, Tufts
senior co-captain Dena Feiger (Long Grove, IL)
with 17 total, and Amherst junior libero Rachel Yorke (Los Angeles,
CA). Yorke led all players with a solid 40 digs on the afternoon.
Tufts got five kills each from Updike and junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, NV) in the second set, and evened
the match with a win. Updike tallied 20 kills on the afternoon,
while Joyce-Mendive added 19 of her own.
The third set was dominated by the Lord Jeffs, who again seized
the lead and this time did not relinquish it. Berkley and Neilson
combined on a block to more than double Amherst's advantage at
15-7, and junior Laura Hyman (Glencoe, IL) added another to put the
visitors up by 12 points. Hyman contributed two of her five blocks
and multiple kills in the third-set victory, while Neilson
continued her consistently strong match, in which she assisted on
50 points for the Lord Jeffs.
Facing elimination, Tufts looked for someone to step up and
found it in sophomore Lexi Nicholas (San Diego,
CA). In the crucial fourth set, Nichols pitched in four
kills and assisted on several blocks, and for the first time the
Jumbos had an early lead. Despite tying the game at 10, Amherst
could not put the top seed away, and Tufts took control of the game
on an ace by Updike (her second of the match), and a great block by
Feiger. The Jumbos got four digs from first year Natalie Bruck (Inverness, IL) off the bench as they closed the set
on a 7-1 run to force a deciding game five.
The momentum in the match shifted their way, Tufts came out
determined in the final set. Junior Erica Lokken (Houston,
TX) came off the bench and contributed two blocks and a
kill for Tufts as the Jumbos twice doubled their advantage at 8-4
and then 10-5. Meier slammed two kills in the final game for the
Lord Jeffs, but Updike, Joyce-Mendive, and Nicholas all had
multiple answers for Tufts. Feiger continued to set the ball well,
and finished off the match with 47 assists for the victorious
Jumbos.
The Jumbos will be playing in the conference championship match
for the first time since 2005. Tufts won its lone NESCAC title in
1996.
#
