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First year Hayley Hopper recorded 15 kills with just four errors for Tufts
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MEDFORD - The Tufts University Jumbos earned a convincing 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-17, 25-17) over the Amherst College Lord Jeffs in NESCAC volleyball action on Friday evening at Cousens Gymnasium.
The first set was the closest of the match as it had four ties and two lead changes. The Jumbos initially jumped ahead 6-2 after a kill by senior Cara Spieler (Santa Barbara, CA). Amherst fought back to tie at 7-7 and then they took a lead at 10-8. That would be the largest advantage of the match for the Lord Jeffs. After Tufts tied the score at 10, Amherst never led again for the duration of the match.
Amherst senior K.C. Kanoff (Pacific Palisades, CA) pulled the Lord Jeffs within two at 22-20, but the Jumbos recorded three of the next four points to win the first set, 25-21.
Tufts earned the first point of the second set, but they were quickly tied by Amherst. The Jumbos then took a 2-1 lead and never relinquished it. Mid-way through the set, Tufts held an eight-point lead, 15-7. The closest Amherst got the rest of the way was three at 16-13. The Jumbos scored three straight to end the set, including kills from first-years Hayley Hopper (Carlsbad, CA) and Isabel Kuhel (Brisbane, CA).
The Jumbos ran away with the third set early, tallying the first six points, and eventually going up by as many as 11 at 12-1. First-year Lauren Antion (Los Angeles, CA) registered a service ace in the middle of the set for the Lord Jeffs to get Amherst back within seven at 15-8. Seven was the closest Amherst would be for the remainder of the set as Tufts cruised to another 25-17 set victory and the match sweep.
Hopper led the way for the Jumbos with a team-high 15 kills while her classmate Kelly Brennan (Burr Ridge, IL) had 12. Junior Kendall Lord (LaJolla, CA) recorded 41 assists and three service aces. Senior Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) finished with 17 digs, and Spieler ended the night with nine kills and 11 digs.
Senior Cristy Meier (San Anselmo, CA) finished with a match-high 16 kills for Amherst. Junior Callie Neilson (Escondido, CA) registered 24 assists while her classmate Kristin Keeno (Honolulu, HI) had a match-high 21 digs.
Tufts improves to 5-1 in the NESCAC and 13-3 overall. They will host Middlebury on Saturday afternoon at Cousens Gym at 1:30 pm. Amherst falls to 1-3 in conference and 11-4 overall as they will take on Connecticut College tomorrow at 11 am at Cousens.
Match statistics
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