Box Score
MEDFORD - The Tufts volleyball team swept past Trinity College on opening night of the NESCAC season Friday at Cousens Gym. Set scores were 25-22, 25-20, and 25-20.
The Jumbos have won three in a row while improving to 8-3 (1-0 NESCAC). The Bantams lost for the first time in six matches, falling to 7-3 and 0-1.
All three sets were closely contested. In the first, Tufts won out of a 22-22 tie on a pair of Trinity errors and a kill by junior Hayley Hopper (Carlsbad, CA). Tufts scored eight out of the last 11 points in the second set to move from a 17-17 deadlock onto the win. The Bantams led 7-3 early in the third set, but Tufts came back and won it with six straight points at the end. Three straight kills by oncoming freshman Mary Maccabee (River Edge, NJ) and an ace by junior Rebecca Rubin (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) closed it out for the Jumbos.
Maccabee finished with a Tufts-high 11 kills in the match. Rubin served three aces. Junior tri-captain Jessica Ingrum (Highlands Ranch, CO) and sophomore Carolina Berger (Fort Lauderdale, FL) both had 12 digs for Tufts, while first-year Elizabeth Ahrens (Richmond, VA) went up for four blocks (two solos).
Trinity's Hannah Brickley (Melrose, MA) also put down 11 kills, while sophomore Kate Giddens (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) had 10. Sophomore Hunter Drews (Clifton Park, NY) served four aces. Defensively, first-year Kristen Cooprider (Hopkinton, MA) finished with 15 digs and Brickley had two solo blocks with two assists.
Tufts hosts a tri-match at Cousens tomorrow with NESCAC action against Wesleyan at noon and then a non-league affair versus undefeated Roger Williams (14-0) at 4 pm. Trinity travels to play at Connecticut College in a 1 pm match tomorrow.
#
