MEDFORD, MA (October 21, 2022) -- Visiting Springfield College tried to get back into the match after falling in the first two sets, but the host Tufts University volleyball squad was able to hold off the Pride as the Jumbos earned a 3-1 non-conference win on Senior Night in Cousens Gymnasium. Tufts earned the win with scores of 25-9, 25-20, 25-20 and 27-25.
In the opening two sets, Tufts (14-4) rarely trailed thanks to an offensive explosion that saw the hosts hit .565 in the opening set with 14 kills, while adding 16 terminations and a .452 hitting clip in the second stanza to take a 2-0 match lead. Even more impressive was the defensive play in the first two sets, as Tufts was able to side out at a 73.3 percent mark including going 9-for-9 in side out chances in the first set.
The Pride (16-5) started to rally in the third set, leading the entire way as the Jumbos posted 11 errors in the period. The fourth set was a thriller the whole way through, as there were nine ties and five lead changes. Tufts took its largest lead of the set at 18-13 but Springfield responded with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 18. Seniors
Jennelle Yarwood and
Grace Legris put the Jumbos back on top with a block, followed by attacking miscues by SC to make the score 21-19 as the Jumbos led until Springfield battled back to deadlock the set at 23.
Maeve Voltz would post a kill to give the Pride set point but
Zoe Gregory tied the set with a gutsy dump into the middle of the defense, followed by another defense of set point at 25-24. At 25-all, Springfield was whistled for a ball-handling error, and on the ensuing point Legris and
Christine Audette blocked a Voltz attack to clinch the Senior Day victory.
Rileigh Farragher came off the bench in all four sets to lead the squad with 12 kills, hitting .579 for the match. Legris had an all-around great game, posting nine kills on 16 attempts (.562), while also chalking up four assisted blocks. Yarwood added nine kills, five digs and three blocks, and
Cora Cunningham was very efficient with eight kills in the middle on 11 swings (.727).
Christine Audette led the team with 15 digs, also posting six terminations, and
Maddie Yu tallied 22 assists and six digs. Gregory finished with 17 assists and six digs for the Jumbos, who finished the night with a hitting clip of .281 as all six seniors got into the match. The key was Tufts ability to hammer down first attacks, hitting .375 for the match on the opening attack of a point, posting 27 kills on 56 attempts with only four errors.
Springfield was led by the 12 kills from Riley Donahue, while Voltz tallied 10 kills as well in the loss. Megan Kirtyan finished with 34 assists, while Ally Townsend also registered a team-best 15 digs.
The Jumbos will look to continue its winning streak Saturday afternoon with two big regional matches at the New England Challenge, hosted in Cambridge, MA at MIT. Tufts will take on No. 23 Babson College at 11 a.m., followed by a showdown with No. 19 MIT at 3:30 p.m. at the Rockwell Cage.
--JUMBOS--
