NEW LONDON, CT - The Tufts volleyball team finished the regular-season with a pair of victories against Stevens Institute of Technology and Keene State College on Saturday at the Connecticut College Invitational. The Jumbos are now 24-4 overall.
Tufts will be the second seed at the NESCAC Championship hosted by Bowdoin College next weekend (Nov. 4-6). The Jumbos will face seven-seed Williams College (16-12) on Friday at 5 pm.
First year Hayley Hopper's (Carlsbad, CA) 13 kills led the Jumbos to a 3-1 win over Stevens. Classmate Izzy Kuhel (Brisbane, CA) added 11 kills, while she and senior tri-captain Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) also spurred the offense with three aces each. Defensively, Kuan dug 15 opponent attacks and passed successful on 23 of 24 opponent serves. Both Kuhel and junior Kiersten Ellefsen (Goshen, NY) were in on six blocks apiece.
Set scores against Stevens were 25-17, 25-13, 27-29 and 25-20.
Hopper again led offensively against Keene with 14 kills, while first year Kelly Brennan (Burr Ridge, IL) and senior tri-captain Cara Spieler (Santa Barbara, CA) were in double-digits with 12 and 11, respectively. Junior setter Kendall Lord (LaJolla, CA) sparked the offense with 42 assists in three sets. On defense, Kuan led three Jumbos with double-digit digs at 21.
In the loss for Keene, senior outside hitter Bridget O'Bryant had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Fellow seniors Kristen Girard and Ellyse Davis had seven and five kills respectively.
Stevens match statistics
Keene match statistics
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