Box Score
MEDFORD – Things were about as close as they could get in a straight set win, as the Tufts volleyball team picked up a hard fought three set win over conference-rival Wesleyan in Cousens Gym on Friday night. The Jumbos won the first two sets, 25-23, before winning the third by a bit of a bigger margin, 25-21.
With the win the Jumbos move to 14-4 on the season, with a 5-2 mark in NESCAC play. The Cardinals are now 4-9 this year, and 1-6 in conference matches.
The first set was close for most of the first half, with neither team being able to gain a big lead on each other. The Jumbos maintained a small lead for a majority of the match until the Cardinals tied things at 22. The Jumbos gained a point on a service error, before the Carindals tied things again at 23. The Jumbos would take advantage of two Wesleyan errors to move to a 25-23 win in set one.
Tufts took a lead in set two early , but again Wesleyan came back and tied the set at 16. The Cardinals then took their first lead since early in the first set, and grew that lead to four points, leading 20-16. However, the Jumbos came back and tied things at 23 with a kill from senior Maddie Kuppe. A kill by junior Elizabeth Ahrens gave the Jumbos a 24-23 lead, and then Kuppe turned in her seventh kill of the night to give the Jumbos the 25-23 win in set two.
Set three was won by the largest margin, but was still a close contest. The Cardinals started with the early advantage, jumping out to a 4-0 lead early. The visitors would maintain that lead until the Jumbos tied things at ten. The Jumbos then jumped out to a lead that they were able to maintain for most of the third set. However, the Cardinals would not give up, coming within two points at one point only trailing the Jumbos 20-18. It was the home team that was able to pull out the 25-21 win in set three.
Kuppe finished as the offensive leader for the Jumbos with 13 kills and 11 digs, and junior McKenzie Humann turned in eight kills and two blocks. Defensively, sophomore Alex Garrett also had 11 digs and senior co-captain Carolina Berger finished with ten digs in the win. Rookie Angela Yu and senior Kyra Baum split the setting duties, and Yu finished with 20 assists while Baum totaled eight.
For the visitors it was Madeleine Lundberg that was the offensive leader with nine kills, and Sarah Swenson added seven kills. The setting was split between Heidi Westerman and Kelsey Tam, finishing with 12 and 13 assists, respectively. Defensively, Rachel Savage was the leader with 16 digs, while Westerman turned in eight and Lundberg and Tam both finished with seven. Emma Robin was a force at the net, finishing with three blocks.
The Cardinals take the court again on Saturday when they pay a visit to Connecticut College for a 2 pm start. The Jumbos will honor their seniors on Saturday before a 2 pm match against Trinity in Cousens Gym.
