Box Score MEDFORD – Tufts will attempt to win its first-ever NESCAC Volleyball Championship tomorrow after coming from behind to earn a five-set win (17-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22, 15-12) over Bowdoin in the conference tournament semi-finals at Cousens Gym on Saturday afternoon.
The Jumbos (21-7) will play Williams In the NESCAC final tomorrow at Cousens starting at noon. Tufts will be playing in their fifth NESCAC final overall and first since 2010. Bowdoin (21-8) will await a potential at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.
In a tightly contested match throughout, the decisive fifth set was tied at 11-11 before Tufts scored four of the final five points. A kill by senior tri-captain Hayley Hopper, two Bowdoin attack errors and a match-ending kill by sophomore Mary Maccabee gave Tufts the win.
Hopper led the Jumbos with a match-high 23 kills, making only six errors in 53 attempts to finish with a .321 percentage. Maccabee added eight kills as the Jumbos had six players with five or more. Junior setter Kyra Baum finished with 45 assists.
Junior libero Carolina Berger led Tufts with 21 digs while Baum added 18. In the blocking game, sophomore Elizabeth Ahrens had four solos and two assists while senior Izzy Kuhel finished with four solos.
The Polar Bears were led offensively by 11 kills from sophomore Erika Sklaver while junior Christy Jewett added 10. Jewett and first-year Michelle Albright both served three aces for Bowdoin. Setters Quincy Leech (23) and Claire McInerney (12) helped Bowdoin compile 42 assists.
Bowdoin sophomore Katie Doherty posted the match-high in digs with 24. Junior Hailey Wahl was the top Polar Bear blocker with three solos.
Sklaver had led Bowdoin's first-set victory with four kills in five attempts while Doherty had six digs on defense. Tufts evened the match in the second set led by Hopper's six kills and three blocks (two solo) by Ahrens.
The Polars Bears gained the advantage in the third set, emerging from a 14-14 tie to post the victory. They spread out the offense with three kills each by Sklaver, Wahl and Jewett. In the fourth set it was the Jumbos who broke away from a 15-15 tie to win. Hopper was a monster in the fourth to keep Tufts alive with eight kills while Baum matched that number in digs.
Williams and Tufts will face off at 12:00 pm on Sunday in the championship match of the conference tournament, playing for the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The two teams have faced off in the finals twice before, with the Ephs winning both times, 3-0.
When the two teams played earlier this season, the Jumbos earned a 3-1 win at home in Medford. A win for the Ephs would give them their ninth conference championship, while for the Jumbos it would be the program's first, though they have been runner up four times.
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