Box Score NEW LONDON, Conn. – After opening up their season at home on Wednesday night with a win, the Tufts volleyball team hit the road this weekend heading to Connecticut for the Coast Guard / Connecticut College Tournament. The Jumbos opened up tournament play with a 3-0 win over Roger Williams on Friday night.
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| Senior Brigid Bell was the offensive leader for the Jumbos Friday |
With the win the Jumbos improve to 2-0 overall this season. The Hawks fall to 0-3 with the setback.
Things were close for most the first set as the two teams traded points and the lead. With things locked at 21 the Jumbos took advantage of a Roger Williams service error to take a 22-21 lead. Junior Sophia Acker then turned in an ace, and kills from senior Maddie Stewart and sophomore Cate Desler sealed the 25-21 win for the Jumbos in set one.
The second set was much like the first with the two teams trading the lead and the set was extremely close. This time it was the Hawks that were up near the end. Down 20-22 the Jumbos scored five straight points. A kill from Desler started the rally, and then she added a service ace. After two Roger William errors and a Hawk timeout, the Jumbos got a kill from senior Brigid Bell to take set two 25-22.
In the third set the Jumbos took the lead early. After the Hawks scored the first point the Jumbos scored four straight points behind the serve of Bell. They wouldn't trail after that, leading by as many as eight on their way to a 25-20 win in set three to take the match.
Bell finished with nine kills and four digs for the Jumbos. Desler added eight kills and three digs along with two aces. Stewart helped with six kills and a couple of blocks. Senior Christina Nwankpa added six kills and two blocks. Junior Jennifer Ryan added four blocks and a couple of kills for the Jumbos. Acker finished with a team-high seven digs. Senior Rachel Furash and sophomore Ariel Zedric took care of the setting, finishing with 16 and 11 assists, respectively.
Lara Loiacono was the offensive leader for the Hawks, finishing with 9 kills and three digs. Katie Nugent added eight kills and three blocks and Katherine Pickard turned in seven kills and two blocks. Kate Grabowski led the defensive efforts with seven digs. Julia Fields and Kate Porter ran the offense, finishing with 14 and 13 assists, respectively.
The Jumbos will be back in action on Saturday as they continue play in the Coast Guard / Connecticut College Tournament. They take on DeSales at 1 pm and Coast Guard at 3 pm. Roger Williams played Coast Guard at 8 pm on Friday night and they wrap up play in the tournament by taking on Connecticut College at 1 pm on Saturday.
