Box Score NASHUA, N.H. – The Tufts volleyball team won their fifth straight, traveling up to Rivier and topping the Raiders in three sets on Wednesday evening. The Jumbos were led by sophomore Christina Nwankpa, who turned in ten kills in 12 attempts for a .750 hitting percentage.
With the win the Jumbos improve to 11-4 overall this season. The loss drops the Raiders to 10-7 this year.
The Jumbos took an early lead in the first set, but the Raiders hung with them. Up by just one the Jumbos scored three straight points thanks to some Raider errors to grow their lead to four, 11-7. Up by five, 18-3, Tufts scored five straight points behind the serve of sophomore Kelly Klimo and hung on to the 25-15 win.
Tufts scored the first 13 points of the second set, all behind the serve of senior captain Alex Garrett, and five of those points were service aces. The Jumbos held on to that lead to secure the 25-8 win in set two.
Rivier struck first in the third set, but with things tied at three the Jumbos scored five straight behind the serve of sophomore Rachel Furash and picked up a 25-15 win in set three to finish off the three set win.
Nwankpa's ten kills led the Jumbos offensively, but sophomore Brigid Bell, junior Mackenzie Bright and sophomore Heather Holz all added five kills each to the evening. Klimo led the defense with 12 digs while Bell and junior Angela Yu each added six. Furash and Yu took care of the setting for the Jumbos, finishing with 18 and 16 assists, respectively. Garrett finished with six service aces.
Taylor Dunster and Taylor Whit were the offensive leaders for the Raiders, each turning in four kills. Bethany Trevino led the defensive efforts with 12 digs. Hayley Macken ran the offense, finishing with 15 assists.
The Jumbos take the court again on Friday when they travel to Amherst for a 7 pm start. Rivier plays again on Saturday when they travel to Norwich to take on the Cadets at 3 pm and start the day with Simmons at 1 pm.
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