MEDFORD, MA (October 13, 2023) -- The Tufts University women's volleyball team fought off two match points in the fourth set, using that momentum to rally back for a thrilling five-set win over Williams College Friday evening on Senior Night inside Cousens Gymnasium. The Jumbos earned the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) win with scores of 21-25, 25-17, 23-25, 26-24 and 15-10.
The win was a crucial one in the standing for the Jumbos (8-7, 3-4 NESCAC), who now sit tied for sixth place in the league with Saturday afternoon's opponent Amherst College. The story of the match on Friday though was the ability for Tufts to end points offensively, as the Jumbos tallied a season-high 74 kills on the evening led by a career-high 22 terminations from senior
Tori Goldin. The 74 kills were the most by any NESCAC team in 2023, and it marked the most for a Tufts team since as far back as 2008.
The Jumbos started the evening out hot as Goldin powered down eight terminations in the opening set, but Williams (10-6, 3-5 NESCAC) shook off a 5-0 run by the Jumbos with a 10-2 spurt of its own to take a 21-17 edge in the first set. Tufts pulled to within three on four more occasions, but the Ephs took the opening set 25-21 on a kill by Celia Adams.
In the second set, Tufts defense forced the Ephs into seven hitting errors while allowing just six kills in the set to tie the match at a set apiece. The third set was one of two halves, as the Jumbos sprinted out to a 15-8 lead after a kill from
Alina Qi. Williams scored the next six points, and after Tufts made it 18-15 the Ephs rattled off five more points to make it 20-18 in favor of the visitors. Goldin and first-year
Claire Castor helped Tufts tie the set, but four straight points by the Ephs was too much despite a late rally in the third.
The fourth set featured a bevy of runs as Tufts had trailed from 11-10 on as Williams earned a pair of match points at 24-22 after a kill by Adams. On the ensuing play, first-year
Emma Heckman hammered down a kill, followed by a termination by senior
Rileigh Farragher to deadlock the set at 24. The next point set the tone for the rest of the match, as Qi recorded a huge solo block and then followed that with a monster kill to send the match to a fifth set.
In the finishing stanza, Tufts controlled play from the start as it took a 6-1 lead capped by a finish by Farragher. Williams climbed back into the set with a kill by Adams to make it 8-7, but first-year setter
Rianna Liu recorded a kill on a dump at the net to give the Jumbos some breathing room. With the score 11-9, Castor came alive with two kills to make it 14-9 and Farragher put a bow on the win with her 14th kill of the night to clinch the victory for Tufts.
Goldin has been on fire of late, posting double-digit kills in each of the last four matches including her new career-high Friday. The 22 kills was eight more than her previous best of 13 set at Colby last weekend. Not only was her kill total a new career-best, but she tallied a new career-high for digs as well with 18 for her third double-double of the season.
Farragher was one kill shy of her personal best, as she hit .250 on the night with 14 kills on 36 attempts. Heckman tallied 12 kills and two assisted blocks in the win, while Castor just missed a double-double with nine terminations and 16 digs. Qi was also very good for the Jumbos, posting eight kills on 15 attempts to go with four total blocks (2 solo).
Senior setter
Maddie Yu logged her fourth double-double of the season as well, establishing a new personal-best with 38 helpers along with 15 digs. Liu also added 21 assists and eight digs, while senior
Megan Harrison tallied a team-high 28 digs. The Jumbos hit .206 as a team on Friday, collecting their 74 kills on 204 attempts.
Williams got 17 kills from Adams, while libero Sidra Wohlwend collected a match-high 29 digs. Lauren Kauppila also finished with 33 assists and 18 digs in the loss.
Prior to the match, Tufts honored its seven seniors for Senior Night, thanking Yu, Goldin, Harrison, Farragher,
Cora Cunningham,
Brittany Bennet and
Christine Audette for their contributions as Jumbos.
Tufts will now turn its attention to Amherst, who will come to Cousens Gymnasium Saturday, October 14 at 2:30 p.m. in more NESCAC play.
--JUMBOS--
