MEDFORD, MA (November 9, 2022)-- The Tufts University Jumbos Women's Volleyball team kicks off their NCAA tournament campaign on Thursday against the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) champion Johnson & Wales University Wildcats.
Match Details:
Opponent: Johnson & Wales University (20-11, 11-2 GNAC)
Date: November 10, 2022
Time: 8 pm
Location: Medford, MA – Cousens Gymnasium (
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The Jumbos enter the NCAA tournament riding high off of their New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship victory this past weekend. The Jumbos took on the Trinity Bantams Friday in the quarter finals, and defeated them with a 3-0 sweep. They then advanced to the semifinals on Saturday, where they faced the Williams College Ephs, and again won with a 3-0 sweep, sending them to the NESCAC finals. The Jumbos faced the #15 nationally ranked Wesleyan Cardinals in the conference championship, and came out victorious with a 3-1 match score.
The Jumbos were led by outside hitters
Maya Lightfoot and Jenelle Yarwood in the championship match. Lightfoot had 15 kills in the match, and Yarwood had 13. Yarwood also had 20 digs in the match, and Lightfoot hit .379 throughout the match along with a team high 15.5 points.
Earlier in the season, Yarwood was named the NESCAC Player of the Week on October 17. She is leading the Jumbos with 249 total kills, good for second in the conference. She is also 12th in the conference and second on the team with a hitting percentage of .244. The Jumbos as a team have hit for an impressive .224 this season, which ranks second in the NESCAC. The high hitting percentage is in large part due to middle hitter
Grace Legris, who hits a .333 clip, second for all NESCAC players.
The Jumbos will have to bring their A-game against the GNAC champions, as the Wildcats have now won their last five matches in a row. In their four set championship match against Simmons University, the Wildcats were led by middle blocker Peyton Oliver. Oliver had 19 kills for J&W, a team lead on the day. This season, Oliver leads the team with a total of 402 kills, more than 100 kills higher than any other player on the roster. She has been the focal point of attack for the Wildcats for the entirety of their 2022 campaign.
The team also is led by senior libero Emily Corbett, who holds a GNAC lead this season with 502 total digs. In the GNAC championship match versus Simmons, Corbett contributed 10 assists and a team lead 19 digs. Her 5.02 digs/set this season are enough to land her fourth all time in the school's record books, and were also enough to rank her first in the GNAC.
The Wildcats as a team showed their dominance within the GNAC this season, as they led the conference with 12.02 kills per set and 10.97 assists per set. They were also second in the conference with 15.17 digs per set, and hit a .186 percentage as a squad, third in the conference.
As Tufts was awarded hosting privileges, they will be hosting Johnson & Wales along with six other schools for the opening round. The schools playing in Cousens Gymnasium are Babson College, Maine Maritime Academy, Scranton University, Swarthmore College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and St. John Fisher University.
The MIT Engineers enter the NCAA Tournament with a 24-5 overall record and a perfect 10-0 conference record. MIT defeated both Smith College and Babson College on the way to a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) title. The Engineers have defeated two other teams in the region as they beat Tufts on October 22nd in three sets along with beating Babson College twice, 3-0 on October 25th and 3-1 in the NEWMAC Championship Game on November 6th. MIT is led by Middle Hitter Consecrata Rozario who leads the conference in hitting percentage at .426 and her teammates Alyssa Unell and Ali Gibbs are second and third in the same category. They will face Maine Maritime in the first round on November 11th at 3:00 PM. The winner of the match will move on to square off with the winner of Scranton vs St. John Fisher in the NCAA Tournament Second Round Game.
The Maine Maritime Academy Mariners come to Tufts with an impressive 21-2 overall record and a perfect 8-0 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) record. The Mariners defeated SUNY-Delhi in five sets to claim the NAC Championship for the sixth consecutive year. After being down 2 sets to 1, Maine Maritime would win the last two sets to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They started the season with an impressive 9-0 record. Senior Outside Hitter Rachel Melampy leads the conference in kills with 354 on the season with an average of 4.43 kills per set. Maine Maritime is set to face MIT at 3:00 PM in the first round. The winner between the two schools will face the winner of Scranton vs St. John Fisher in the NCAA Tournament Second Round Game.
With a record of 21-12, the Scranton University Royals enter the NCAA Tournament after being defeated in the Landmark Conference Title game by Juniata, three sets to one. The Royals had an impressive 6-1 conference record with the only loss coming to Juniata a week before the two schools met in the conference title game. Scranton is averaging about 2.1 serve aces per set to go along with 12 kills per set. The Royals will face St. John Fisher at 12:30 PM with the winner moving on to face the winner of MIT vs Maine Maritime on November 10th in the NCAA Tournament Second Round.
The Cardinals of St. John Fisher University will travel to Tufts with a 21-7 overall record along with a 9-0 conference record. St. John Fisher was the #1 overall seed in the Empire 8 championships where they defeated Houghton University and Hartwick College to win the conference championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Senior Outside Hitter Sydney French leads the conference in hitting percentage at .354. The Cardinals square off with Scranton at 12:30 PM with the winner facing either MIT or Maine Maritime on November 10th in an NCAA Tournament Second Round matchup.
Babson College comes into the NCAA Tournament with a 21-8 record and an 8-2 conference record. The Beavers lost to MIT in the NEWMAC championship game but were still able to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Beavers have faced three other teams this season that are in this region. Back on September 10th, they defeated Johnson & Wales in straight sets and then lost to Tufts in straight sets on September 22nd. Babson played MIT twice this season and were defeated both times. For the Beavers, Graduate Student Izzy Seebold leads the NEWMAC in assists per set with an average of 10.1 Babson is set to play Swarthmore College at 5:30 PM and with the winner moving on to take on the winner between Tufts and Johnson & Wales in the NCAA Tournament Second Round.
Swarthmore College enters the NCAA Tournament with a 17-8 record and a 9-1 conference record. Swarthmore entered the Centennial Conference Tournament as the #2 seed and were defeated by the #3 seeded Franklin and Marshall College. The Garnet's are led by Junior Setter Dani Pena as she leads the Centennial Conference in assists per set with 8.78. Swarthmore will play Babson College at 5:30 PM. The winner between the two schools will move on to take on the winner between Tufts and Johnson & Wales in the NCAA Tournament Second Round.
The NESCAC champion Tufts and GNAC champion Johnson & Wales will face off in the last match of the opening round on Thursday night, with the match time scheduled to start at 8 p.m.
