Box Score
MEDFORD - Senior Cate Desler and junior Jenelle Yarwood combined for 36 kills to help the Tufts volleyball team overcome a first set loss to pick up a 3-1 win over visiting Middlebury in Cousens Gym on Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Jumbos improve to 15-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play. The Panthers are now 15-3 this season with a 5-3 mark in conference matches.
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead in the first set. With the score locked at two they took advantage of three Jumbo errors and a service ace from Manya Kula. After a Jumbo kill from Desler, the Panthers got a kill from Maggie Wise and another from Corley Doyle. A Jumbo error gave them a 9-3 lead. They capitalized on that lead and picked up the 25-20 win in the first set.
With a one-point lead, 10-9, in the second set the Jumbos took advantage of a Panther service error and then got a kill from junior Grace Legris to grow their lead to three, 12-9. The Jumbos didn't look back from there and cruised to a 25-16 win in the second set to even the match at one.
Tufts scored the first five points of the third set behind the serve of Yarwood (pictured). They held on to that lead for a 25-20 win in the third set to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. The two teams traded the lead in the fourth set. With the score locked at 20 the Jumbos got a couple of kills from Yarwood. But, the Panthers came back and the set was tied at 24. A kill from Legris followed by another from Desler gave the Jumbos the 26-24 win in the fourth set and the 3-1 match win.
Desler finished with 18 kills, 15 digs and five blocks, while Yarwood tallied 16 kills and seven digs. Junior Maya Light foot and sophomore Rileigh Farragher each added nine kills and senior Jen Ryan helped with seven kills and six blocks. Sophomore Maddie Yu helped with 29 assists while senior Ariel Zedric turned in 27 assists.
Laney Sullivan finished with 12 kills and seven digs for the Panthers. Maggie Wise added 11 kills. Kelley Ferrero added 15 digs and Gabbie O'Toole finished the match with 40 assists.
The Jumbos play again on Friday when they travel to Williams for the New England Challenge. They open tournament play against MIT on Friday night at 7 pm. Middlebury takes the court again on Tuesday when they travel to Plymouth State for a 6 pm start.
