Box Score
BRUNSWICK, Maine – Playing in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC Tournament the Tufts volleyball team took on the Middlebury Panthers, but the Jumbos fell 3-1 on Friday night at the Morrell Gymnasium.
The Panthers took a 3-1 win (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-16) to advance to the tournament's semifinal round. They will face the first seeded Bowdoin tomorrow at 1 pm.
The Jumbos jumped out to an early lead in the first set, but the Panthers were able to tie things at ten. Things would be close as the Panthers and the Jumbos would exchange the lead until the Panthers finally took a 20-19 lead. The Jumbos were able to score a few points, but after the Jumbos came within one (21-22), the Panthers got a kill from Gabi Rosenfeld and an ace and a kill from Becca Raffel to secure the 25-21 win in set one.
In the second set, it was the Panthers that were able to take the lead, and they kept that lead for the duration of the second set, eventually winning 25-20.
Things were completely reversed in the third as the Jumbos scored eight points behind the serve of rookie Angela Yu to take an 8-0 lead in set three. The Jumbos were able to hold on to a sizable lead, eventually winning 25-19.
The Jumbos took an early lead in the fourth set, but the Panthers came back and tied things at five. Things would be tied six more times during the fourth set, before the Panthers were able to take a lead. Two kills from Raffel gave the Panthers the 15-13 lead, and they eventually moved to a 25-16 win in set four to take the 3-1 win over the Jumbos.
Junior Elizabeth Ahrens and classmate McKenzie Humann were the offensive leaders for the Jumbos, both finishing with ten kills each. Sophomore Katie Kim added nine of her own. Yu took care of the setting for the Jumbos, finishing with 33 assists. Defensively for the Jumbos, sophomore Alex Garrett finished with 30 digs and rookie Katie Zheng had 13. Kim finished with three solo blocks and one block assist while Humann turned in two solo blocks.
Raffel was the offensive leader for the Panthers with 15 kills and Eliana Schaefer added seven to the cause. Hannah Blackburn ran the offensive, finishing with 36 assists. Defensively, Emily Kolodka turned in 26 digs while Clare White-Dzuro added 17.
The Jumbos, 17-8 overall this season, have been eliminated from tournament play, and will wait to hear if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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