MEDFORD, MA (October 7, 2022) -- The Tufts University volleyball team rallied from down two sets to none Friday evening against Colby College to earn a thrilling, come-from-behind 3-2 win in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action from Cousens Gymnasium.
The Jumbos came from behind to earn the victory with scores of 22-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21 and 15-8. The turning point came in the third set, as Tufts (9-3, 4-1 NESCAC) started to get its offense rolling after hitting under .200 in the first two sets.
Colby (8-4, 3-3 NESCAC) and Tufts battled back-and-forth in the opening set, as the game featured 12 ties and seven lead changes. The Jumbos led by as much as six at 15-9 after a kill from
Maya Lightfoot, but the Mules charged back to tie the set at 17 before taking an 18-17 edge on an ace by Bella Schumacher.
The first set would stay nip-and-tuck until a a late 4-0 run by the visitors gave Colby an early match lead.
Grace Legris led Tufts with four kills in the first set, while Colby was paced by the five terminations by Emma Davis.
In the second set, Colby scored nine of the first 10 points of the stanza and led the entire set dispute Tufts getting within one midway through the game. Momentum would start to swing to the side of the hosts, as Tufts rallied from down three late in the game to post an 8-1 run to fuel a set three victory. Jannelle Yarwood had five kills on seven attempts in the third game.
The momentum continued into the fourth set as SU let the entire set, hitting .224 for 18 kills in the stanza while holding the Mules to just 11 terminations in evening the match at two sets apiece. Yarwood hammered down six kills in the fourth set to pace Tufts.
In the crucial fifth set, Tufts' offense was just too much for the visiting Mules as the Jumbos posted a hitting clip of .444 en route to an important conference victory. Tufts had a balanced attack, as five players finished with eight or more kills. Yarwood tallied a big double-double of 14 kills and 14 digs, hitting .273 for the evening.
Lightfood finished with 13 kills and five assisted blocks, and Legris posted 11 terminations and four assisted blocks.
Tori Goldin added eight kills and seven digs, and
Cora Cunningham added eight kills, nine digs and three total blocks.
Maddie Yu continued her strong play of late with 29 assists and 18 digs, while fellow setter
Zoe Gregory handed out 22 helpers in addition to 11 digs and two aces.
Libero
Stephanie Lee registered 15 digs in the win, while
Rileigh Farragher posted five kills as well. The Jumbos hit .215 for the match, registering 63 kills on 181 attacks with 24 errors. Tufts also finished with a 92-77 edge in digs, while holding a slight 8.0-7.0 edge in total blocks.
Davis posted a match-high 17 kills for the Mules, while Natalie Bumpus and Hannah Wyllie added 12 and 10 terminations, respectively. Sydney Sick added 37 assists and 20 digs as well for Colby.
The Jumbos will be right back in NESCAC action Saturday, hosting Bates College at noon in Cousens Gymnasium before taking on No. 14 Hope College at 5 p.m. in action on Homecoming 2022. Bates and Hope will play at 2:30 p.m. in the middle match of the afternoon.
--JUMBOS--
