WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (October 21, 2023) -- The Tufts University volleyball team defeated No. 25 Springfield College in an exciting five-set thriller, but couldn't rebound for the nightcap as the Jumbos fell to No. 19 MIT in three sets in the final two matches of the 2023 New England Challenge, hosted by Williams College.
Match 1: Tufts 3, Springfield 2 (25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 22-25, 15-10)
The Tufts volleyball squad opened the match with No. 25 Springfield with wins in the first two sets, and fended off a rally from the Pride to clinch a five-set victory with scores of 25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 22-25 and 15-10.
The Jumbos attacked at a very strong .278 for the match, but Springfield matched Tufts offensively with 59 kills and a hitting percentage of .270. The difference was the ability to earn points defensively at the net, as Tufts tallied nine blocks to just four from Springfield.
Tufts dominated the first half of the opening set, but Springfield used a 6-0 run to take a 14-11 lead in after a Olivia Nealy ace. The Pride led 20-17 but the Jumbos rattled off six consecutive points to regain a 23-20 lead. Springfield deadlocked the game at 23, but a kill from
Emma Heckman and solo block from
Alina Qi earned the opening set win for Tufts.
The second set saw the tide turn with an 8-1 run which finished with Tufts leading 22-15 after back-to-back aces from
Megan Harrison. Points later, Heckman would put the game away with a kill to make it a two-game lead for Tufts. In the third set, Tufts held a 20-19 lead late in the set, but Springfield posted six straight points to keep the match going.
The fourth set saw Springfield lead the entire way, as the Pride forced a fifth game after Riley Donahue converted to earn a 25-22 win for Springfield. The Jumbos would rebound though, showing a ton of poise as they never let Springfield point more than one point together while finishing the set on a three-point run capped by two big kills from first-year
Claire Castor to earn the win.
Senior
Rileigh Farragher tallied a career-high 18 terminations on the match, erring just once on 35 swings as she hit .486. Heckman tallied 11 kills and four assisted blocks, while
Tori Goldin added nine kills and 13 digs. Qi tallied nine terminations as well on 17 swings, tacking up four blocks (2 solo), and
Cora Cunningham added five kills and three assisted rejections.
Maddie Yu had a strong match with 34 assists and eight digs, and
Megan Harrison added 16 digs, five aces and four assists.
Rianna Liu also finished with 16 assists and seven digs.
Emma Norman came off the bench to tally four kills and four digs.
Springfield (20-3) got a match-best 22 kills from Donahue, and Natalie Billet added 17 terminations.
Match 2: MIT 3, Tufts 0 (26-24, 25-12, 27-25)
Tufts played well at times against No. 19 MIT, but the Engineers proved to be too strong as their earned the three-set win.
In the first set, the Jumbos battled back multiple times including tying the set at 24 after kills from Farragher and Goldin. MIT came back with consecutive points to earn the opening set. After MIT controlled the second game, the Jumbos led nearly the entire game including earning a set point at 25-24 after a block from Cunningham and Golding. MIT would come right back with three straight fueled by solo blocks by Ella Gragg to clinch the victory.
Farragher once again led the Jumbos offensively with 14 kills, contributing four digs and two blocks as well. Goldin and Qi each added five kills, while Castor tallied five kills and nine digs. Harrison had a team-high 17 digs, while Yu posted a double-double of 17 assists, 10 digs and three aces.
Lauren Keller and Claire Underwood each had nine kills in the win for MIT (23-3).
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Tufts (11-9) will continue its schedule next Friday, October 27 at home against Connecticut College at 7 p.m. inside Cousens Gymnasium.
--JUMBOS--
