AMHERST, MA– The Tufts Women's Volleyball team was able to win a five set battle (17-25, 25-15, 25-11, 11-25, 15-13) against the Amherst Mammoths on Saturday afternoon in Amherst, as they add another in-conference win to their credit.
The Mammoths snagged the first set by a score of 25-17. Amherst jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead in the set after a few kills from Charlotte Rasmussen and a few mistakes from the Jumbos. However, Tufts came firing back and was able to even the score at 12. Their comeback attempt for the first set would end there though, as Amherst rattled off seven straight points to take a 19-12 lead in the set, which was enough for them to hang on and eventually win by a score of 25-17.
The Jumbos responded in a powerful way, as they grabbed the next two sets handily. In the second set, the score was knotted at nine early on. However, Tufts went on a 14-6 run to end the set, including a 10-0 run to end the set.
Cora Cunningham was brilliant, as she rattled off four serves in the set to go along with a kill, and
Christine Audette contributed five kills as well.
The Jumbos repeated their strong bounce back from the first set with another strong showing in the third. After a 3-2 start, the Jumbos went on a roll, going on a 22-9 run to put themselves up two sets to one and win the set by a score of 25-11. The Jumbos played an extremely clean set, hitting .500 and making very few errors. They also had 15 kills in the set, with four coming from Jenelle Yarwood.
In the fourth set, Amherst proved they would not go down without a fight. They were able to rally as they claimed the set by a score of 25-11. Amherst dominated from the start, not allowing any sort of rally for Tufts to get back into the set. Jenelle Yarwood had two kills in the set, but there wasn't much else to speak of for the Jumbos in that set.
The fifth set was a battle throughout. Early on, the Jumbos jumped out to a 4-1 lead after two kills from
Grace Legris and a kill from Jenelle Yarwood, along with a Mammoths error. However, the Mammoths refused to quit, and after 11 points the score was 6-5 Tufts. The Jumbos then went on another mini run thanks to some nice service game from
Zoe Gregory and another Jenelle Yarwood kill. After the first 17 points, they led 11-6, four points away from winning the match. Once again, however, the Mammoths battled back, winning the next 11 points 8-3 and making the score 14-12. Then, an ace from Carly Cooper brought the set to a 14-13 score, with Tufts at match point.
After a Carly Cooper serve from the Mammoths, Tufts'
Maddie Yu was able to hit
Christine Audette with the match winning kill for the Jumbos, giving them an exciting five set victory on the road.
Christine Audette led the Jumbos with 13 kills in the match, while Jenelle Yarwood had 11. Sam Underwood led the Mammoths in kills with 10. Tufts had 53 kills, 93 points, and 32 attack errors in the match, while Amherst had 41 kills, 89 points, and 21 attack errors. Overall, Tufts hit .122 in the match as opposed to Amherst's .132.
The Jumbos (13-4, 7-1 NESCAC) look to carry their momentum into their next match on Friday, where they will take on Springfield at home. The Mammoths (9-6, 5-3 NESCAC) look to bounce back when they play again at home against UMass Boston on Tuesday.
