MEDFORD, MA (September 5, 2023) -- First-year
Claire Castor posted a double-double in her first collegiate match with the Jumbos, and the squad hit .363 overall as the Tufts University volleyball team started the 2023 season with a 3-0 sweep of Roger Williams University with scores of 25-13, 25-22 and 25-13.
The Jumbos (1-0) played 15 players on the night, as the squad connected on 46 kills over the three periods led by Castor and her 11. The first-year tallied her termination total on just 18 swings, while senior
Rileigh Farragher also posted 10 kills and two assisted blocks. The balance was evident though, as 10 Jumbos had at least one kill on the night. In addition, senior setter
Maddie Yu added a double-double of 21 assists and 12 digs as she shared setting duties with
Zoe Gregory and
Rianna Liu, as the trio combined for 43 helpers.
Tufts started the night with an emphatic first-set victory, hitting .500 while registering just three errors on 28 attempts while hammering down 18 kills. The Jumbos trailed at 1-0, but rattled off six straight and finished the set with five straight points to take the early edge.
The second set was much tighter, though the Jumbos led for nearly all of the stanza. The Jumbos took their largest lead of the set at 17-13 after a block by Castor, but the Hawks (2-2) pulled to within one at 22-21 after a kill from Kaylee Jackson. After a Jumbo timeout, Tufts got a kill from Farragher, followed by a kill from Liu and an ace from Castor to clinch the set and the two-set victory.
In the third, Tufts never trailed as it scored nine of the first 11 to cruise to the third-set victory while claiming the season-opening victory.
Senior
Tori Goldin posted five kills for the Jumbos, while
Alina Qi had a career-high seven kills on just nine attempts, adding three assisted blocks. First-year
Emma Heckman tallied three kills in her lone set of action, and
Brittany Bennet also played one set with three kills.
Megan Harrison added six digs and perfect 11-for-11 passing on serve receive, as the Jumbos passed at a .936 clip for the match. Liu led the team with four aces in addition to her eight helpers.
Jackson led the way for RWU with 10 kills, while Ava Mattiucci added 23 assists. Emma Bosco and Marianna Hernandez each posted 11 digs.
The Jumbos will be back in action on Friday evening out in Claremont, CA, traveling to the East-West Classic to battle Colorado College at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 3 p.m. PDT, battling Trinity University (Texas) at 6 p.m. Friday as well.
--JUMBOS--
