BRISTOL, R.I. -- The No. 13 Tufts University volleyball team opened up their 2022 campaign on the road with a convincing 3-0 win over Eastern Connecticut State at Roger Williams on Tuesday evening. The Jumbos were led by 11 kills by
Rileigh Farragher.
With the win the Jumbos are 1-0 on the season. The Warriors fall to 2-2 with the setback. The Jumbos were a force at the net, holding the Warriors to a .022 hitting percentage across the three sets.
Things were close in the first set as the two teams traded points and neither team led by more than two points early. With things locked at 15 the Jumbos got a kill from
Christine Audette and then scored seven straight points behind the serve of
Stephanie Lee, including one ace, to take a 22-15 lead. They held on to that lead for a 25-16 win in set one.
In the second set things were tied at four early when the Jumbos went on another scoring streak. This time it was off the serve of
Grace Legris. Tufts scored seven straight points to take a 10-4 lead. Ahead 16-8 the Jumbos grew that lead scoring five points behind the serve of Lee again. Tufts moved to a 25-18 win in set two.
The Jumbos opened the third set by scoring seven straight points thanks to an ace and a kill from Audette along with a few Warrior errors. Eastern answered with four points, benefiting from a few Jumbo errors and a kill from Anna Barry. But, that would be as close as they would get as the Jumbos commanded the rest of the set and took a 25-13 win in set three for the match win.
Farragher's 11 kills were the offensive lead for the Jumbos. Audette finished with eight kills and nine digs. Jenelle Yarwood added seven kills, seven digs and two aces. Legris turned in four kills and seven blocks.
Maya Lightfoot was also a force at the net with six kills and four blocks. Lee added eight digs.
Maddie Yu and
Zoe Gregory took care of the setting, finishing with 15 and 13 assists, respectively.
Barry led the Warriors with six kills and five digs. Bella Johnson added four kills and four digs. Paula Perez had a match-high 12 digs. Meg Verizzi ran the offensive finishing with ten assists.
The Jumbos are back in action on Friday when they travel to Atlanta to compete in the East*West Classic. They open play with Cal Lutheran on Friday at 3 pm. Eastern plays again on Friday when they travel to Trinity for a 6 pm start with the Bantams.
