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Cara Spieler was a leading contributor on both sides of the net for Tufts, as usual
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AMHERST – Peaking at the right time, the Tufts University volleyball team advanced to the NESCAC Championship final with a relatively easy three-set win over #1 seed Amherst College on Saturday afternoon at LeFrak Gymnasium. The Jumbos, who had lost twice to the Lord Jeffs during the regular season, pulled off the winby 25-15, 25-22, 25-20 scores.
The Jumbos will play Middlebury College for the NESCAC title and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth on Sunday at noon at Amherst. Middlebury was a 3-0 winner over Williams in the other semi-final on Saturday.
The opening set started off fast for the Jumbos against Amherst, as Tufts ran out to a 7-0 lead. After a pair of Amherst points, back-to-back reception errors forced the Jeffs to call a timeout trailing 10-2. Amherst cut the deficit to 13-8, forcing a Tufts timeout, but the Jumbos maintained their lead at 20-13. A reception error from the Jeffs sealed the first frame 25-15 for the Jumbos.
Midway through the second set, the two teams sat deadlocked at 10-10. A kill from Amherst's Katherine Kanoff (Pacific Palisades, CA) gave the Jeffs a brief lead at 12-10, but Tufts battled back to regain an advantage at 18-16. Tufts would never trail by less than two points again in the set, winning 25-22.
In the third and final stanza, Abigail Hunter (Kentfield, CA) picked up two blocks in a three-point span for Amherst, tying the score 12-12 to force a Tufts timeout. The Jumbos turned to Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA) down the stretch, as the senior rolled off another handful of her match-high 16 kills in the final set. Amherst battled in the final few rallies, but Tufts closed out the match 25-20.
The Jumbos were paced by Updike's 16 kills and another 11 kills from junior Cara Spieler (Santa Barbara, CA). Sophomore setter Kendall Lord (LaJolla, CA) had 40 assists in the win, while junior Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) led four Jumbos in double-digits for digs with 20.
Amherst was led by nine kills from Kanoff, and eight kills from each Cristy Meier (San Anselmo, CA) and Jackie Berkley (Fullerton, CA). Callie Neilson (Escondido, CA) had 31 assists in the loss, while senior Erin Camp (Santa Monica, CA) had a trio of aces. Rachel Yorke (Los Angeles, CA) had 33 digs in the effort.
Tufts improved to 22-9 overall heading into the conference final. They will be attempting to win their first NESCAC title since 1996. The loss was just the third of the season for Amherst (24-3). The top-ranked team in the New England region, the Lord Jeffs will have to wait for Monday in hopes of receiving an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Match Statistics
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Match release courtesy of Amherst College
