Box Score
MEDFORD -- The Tufts University Jumbos earned their fifth 3-0 sweep in the last six matches (25-12, 25-19, 25-18) in beating the Colby-Sawyer College Chargers in non-league play on Wednesday evening at Cousens Gymnasium.
In the first set, Tufts jumped out to a 9-2 lead, sparked by three aces. Two of them came from first year Hayley Hopper (Carlsbad, CA) and the other from junior Kendall Lord (LaJolla, CA). The Chargers tried to stay close, pulling to within four at 11-7 after a service ace from sophomore Courtney O'Hara (Mystic, CT) and a kill by first-year Stephanie Vecchio (Shelter Island, NY). Tufts then reeled off 11 of 13 points to build its largest advantage of the set at 22-9 before finishing the set with a 25-12 victory.
Colby-Sawyer took its first lead of the match, tallying the first two points of the second set. Tufts answered back to tie at 2-2 and then after taking a lead at 3-2, the Jumbos never relinquished it. A kill from Hopper, a block by first year Isabel Kuhel (Brisbane, CA) and an ace by first year Kelly Brennan (Burr Ridge, IL) gave the Jumbos a 9-3 lead. The closest the Chargers got was two at 12-10 before Tufts built its lead back to six at 19-13, and that would be the margin they would win the set by at 25-19.
The Chargers would not go quietly in the final set, as there were 10 ties and seven lead changes. Colby-Sawyer had a two-point lead at 15-13, and later had a one-point advantage at 17-16. Tufts then recorded seven straight points to go up 23-17 and eventually took the final set at 25-18.
Tufts senior Cara Spieler (Santa Barbara, CA) led the match with 12 kills. Lord finished with a team-high 11 digs as well as a match-high four aces and 38 assists. Hopper and her classmate Brennan had two aces and nine kills respectively. Senior Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) added a pair of aces and 10 digs.
For the Chargers, both O'Hara and senior Kristin Sawyer (Walpole, MA) had seven kills. Sawyer also had 16 assists while sophomore Ally Le-Bruno (Medfield, MA) chipped in with a match-high 17 digs and two aces. Sophomore Julia Yee (Quincy, MA) registered 11 digs.
The sweep is the Jumbos' third in a row as they improve to 15-3. They return to NESCAC action on Friday with a match at Trinity against Wesleyan at 8 pm. Colby-Sawyer falls below .500 at 12-13 and will take on UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday at 12 pm.
Match statistics
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