BRUNSWICK, ME (October 29, 2022) -- The defensive unit of the Tufts University volleyball squad held host Bowdoin College to just 28 kills on the match Saturday, rolling in a 3-0 victory over the Polar Bears in play from Morrell Gymnasium. Tufts upped its New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) win streak to nine with the triumph with scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-17.
The Jumbos (18-5, 9-1 NESCAC) posted a total of eight blocks for the contest, while adding 60 digs led by the 15 from
Christine Audette. In the opening set, Tufts came out on fire as it scored seven of the first nine points capped by a kill from
Grace Legris. Bowdoin pulled to within one at 15-14, but a quick 5-0 run out of a timeout was enough to extend the Tufts lead back up to six at 20-14. The lead swelled up to as much as eight on the final point of the set, as
Jennelle Yarwood completed the first-set win with an ace.
In the second set, Bowdoin came out with a vengeance with a 7-1 run to start the stanza. The Polar Bears (13-9, 6-4 NESCAC) lead by as many as six points late in the set at 20-14 following a block by Mary John and Jenna Robbins, but Tufts regained momentum with three straight points to force Bowdoin into a timeout. After the timeout, Bowdoin posted a kill by John, but the Jumbos rattled off the final seven points of the set highlighted by two kills and a set-clinching solo block by
Maya Lightfoot to make it a 2-0 match edge.
The energy from the end of the second set overflowed into the third set, as Tufts scored the first seven points in the stanza boosted by three kills from Legris. Tufts would push its lead up to 12 at 20-8 after a termination from
Rileigh Farragher, cruising to the straight set victory. Legris continued her strong week offensively, hitting .533 with 10 kills on 15 attempts, while Lightfoot hit .692 on 10 kills in just 13 attacks. Farragher had three solo blocks and nine kills, while Audette posted five kills in addition to her team-high dig total.
Maddie Yu stretched her double-double streak to three with 22 assists and 11 digs on Saturday, while
Zoe Gregory added 10 assists, two aces and seven digs.
Stephanie Lee also added 12 digs in the win. The Jumbos hit .196 for the match, but served well with nine aces to only three receiving errors. Bowdoin saw Jaida Hodge-Adams post nine kills to lead the Polar Bears, while Lauren Lange had six kills and two solo blocks.
The Jumbos finish the regular season as the No. 2 seed in the NESCAC, and will take on Trinity College Friday, November 4 at 5 p.m. at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT in the NESCAC Tournament. For more information on the NESCAC Tournament, head over to the championship website
HERE.
--JUMBOS--
