Box Score
MEDFORD – On the second day of the New England Challenge the Tufts volleyball team took on one of the nation's best teams and the Jumbos were just edged 3-2 with the fifth set taking extra points to determine a winner. The Jumbos opened play in the tournament with a 3-1 win over Wellesley on Friday night.
The Jumbos fell 24-26 in the first set before coming back to win the second and third sets, 25-16 and 25-23, respectively. The host Engineers then took the fourth set 25-16. The Jumbos were leading 14-13 in the fifth set, but the Engineers put three points together to take the 16-14 win in the fifth set to top the Jumbos, 3-2.
The Jumbos are now 16-5 on the season while the Engineers move to 25-2. MIT was at the top of the most recent New England Volleyball Coaches Association (NEWVA) poll and was ranked No. 23 in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll.
Tufts jumped out to an early lead in the first set, and was able to sustain the first MIT comeback, but it was the second one that got them. With the set tied at 13 the Jumbos scored four points behind the serve of senior co-captain Carolina Berger to take a 17-13 lead. They would maintain that lead, one point away from the set win with the 24-20 lead. But, the Engineers scored six consecutive points thanks to a few Jumbo errors and three kills from Megan Gebhard to take the 26-24 win.
Once again the Jumbos jumped out to an early lead in the second set, and this time they maintained that lead for the duration of the set, taking a 25-16 victory to tie the match at one. In the third set things were close to start and the Engineers and Jumbos exchanged the lead for most of the set. With things tied at 15 the Jumbos scored five points behind the serve of Berger once again to take a 19-15 lead. They were able to hold on to that lead, moving to a 25-23 win in set three.
The fourth set would go to the Engineers. Though things were close early, MIT took the lead after the set was tied at ten and did not relinquish it after that, earning the 25-16 win in set four to even the match at two.
The fifth set was as close as they could get. The Jumbos found themselves down early but scored five points behind the serve of junior Elizabeth Ahrens to bring themselves within one, down 10-9. With the match tied at 12 the Jumbos got a kill by senior Maddie Kuppe and an error on the Engineers to take a 14-13 lead, just a point away from securing the win. But, a kill from Gebhard tied things at 14 and then Abby Bertics and Alli Davanzo both registered kills that helped the Engineers earn the 16-14 win.
Kuppe finished with 17 kills for the Jumbos and added eight kills and three services aces to her effort. Junior McKenzie Humann added ten kills and classmate Mary Maccabee finished with seven kills. Senior Kyra Baum and freshman Angela Yu split the setting duties, as Baum tallied 19 assists and Yu 23. Berger added five services aces to help the Jumbos.
Defensively for the Jumbos Berger finished with 24 digs while Kuppe and Baum both added eight each. Humann was a force at the net with one solo block and six block assists, and sophomore Kate Kim added four block assists while junior Elizabeth Ahrens finished with one solo block and three block assists.
For the Engineers Gebhard finished with 16 kills and Lisette Tellez added 13 of her own. Fiona Tanuwidjaja ran the offense turning in 48 assists. Tori Wunthrich was the defensive leader with 23 digs.
Following the match against the Engineers the Jumbos took on local rival Babson with a 3 pm start time. The Engineers also had another match on their schedule as they faced off with Williams.
