Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
WALTHAM - The Tufts University volleyball team showed that it's ready for the post-season by earning a pair of three-set victories on Saturday at the Judges Classic hosted by Brandeis University. In their last action of the regular-season Tufts defeated host Brandeis 25-13, 25-19, 25-8, and then shut out #2 in New England UMass Boston 25-16, 25-11, 25-22.
With the wins, Tufts is 20-9 overall heading into the NESCAC Championship at Amherst College next weekend. The Jumbos are the #4 seed and will play fifth-seed Connecticut College in the opening round on Friday (Nov. 5) at 8 pm.
Against Brandeis, junior Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) served six aces to spur the Tufts offense. Several hitters were effective, with senior Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA) leading the way with nine kills. Kuan and classmate Cara Spieler (Santa Barbara, CA) had 13 digs apiece on defense. The win was Tufts' third over Brandeis this season.
The Jumbos blanked a UMass Boston team which received votes in last week's American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll. Tufts got a solid performance from sophomore Brittany Neff (Culver City, CA), who totaled six kills (no errors), two aces, and was in on two blocks. Spieler finished with 10's in kills and digs, while sophomore setter Kendall Lord (LaJolla, CA) averaged better than 10 assists per set.
Lord was named Most Valuable Player of the Judges Classic, while Kuan was selected to the All-Tournament team.
The Jumbos will be seeking their first conference title since 1996.
Brandeis Match Statistics
UMass Boston Match Statistics
#
