MIDDLETOWN, CT (November 5, 2022) -- The Tufts University volleyball team swept past No. 3 seed Williams College in three games in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) semifinals, earning the win with scores of 25-13, 25-19 and 25-22.
The win by the Jumbos set up a NESCAC title match with top-seed Wesleyan University, which knocked off No. 4 seed Amherst College in five sets in the first match of the afternoon. The key for the Jumbos (20-5) was its ability to terminate points, hitting .282 for the contest while holding a 43-28 edge in kills on the day.
In the opening set, Tufts had no problems at all as it hit .387 as a squad in the stanza while siding out on 11 of 13 attempts in rolling to the early 1-0 match lead. In the second set, the two teams were tied at 11 but a 5-0 run capped by consecutive blocks by senior
Grace Legris put Tufts ahead for good in the second stanza.
The third set was the closest of the bunch with Williams (13-8) leading as late as 18-15 after a block by Helen Qian. On the next point,
Maya Lightfoot hammered down a kill followed by a
Cora Cunningham block to start a 5-1 run that finished with Tufts leading 20-19 after another termination by Lightfoot.
Williams posted back-to-back points to regain the lead at 21-20, but the Jumbos finished with a flurry to move into the NESCAC final Sunday.
Christine Audette led the way offensively with 10 kills, just missing a double-double with nine digs as well.
Jennelle Yarwood tallied nine kills, four aces and eight digs in the victory, while Lightfoot posted eight terminations on 15 attempts.
Maddie Yu tallied yet another double-double with 13 assists and 11 digs, and
Zoe Gregory added 15 assists and two digs.
Stephanie Lee was solid passing from the back row and at the net with 13 digs and seven helpers, while
Rileigh Farragher had six kills on 12 attempts.
Legris finished with just four kills, but was stellar defensively with five total blocks including four assisted rejections. Celia Adams finished with a match-high 11 kills for the Ephs, while Christina Conforti had six kills and seven digs. Libero Sidra Wohlwend also added 10 digs in the loss for Williams.
The Jumbos and Wesleyan will start at noon Sunday in Silloway Gymnasium. Live video and stats will be available at www.gotuftsjumbos.com.
--JUMBOS--
