MEDFORD, MA (October 25, 2024) -- The Tufts University volleyball team started its busy weekend in the New England Challenge with a strong victory Friday evening, hitting .229 overall in earning a four-set victory over Springfield College with scores of 28-26, 19-25, 25-19 and 25-15 inside Cousens Gymnasium.
The difference in the match was Tufts (10-9) ability to get hands on the ball at the net, which started to stifle the Springfield hitters in the third and fourth set. After Tufts and Springfield split the opening two sets, Tufts forced the Pride into 14 errors over the final two sets while posting just six errors in those games to earn the win.
The Jumbos played an exciting first set with 11 tie scores and two lead changes in the frame, as Tufts trailed 24-22 but fought off a pair of set points to make it 24-24 on an attacking error by Springfield. The Pride went back ahead twice at 25-24 and 26-25 on kills by Riley Donahue, but
Ella Norris posted a kill followed by back-to-back blocks from
Julia Griffiths to clinch the 28-26 win.
Emma Heckman had five kills in the first stanza for Tufts, while Donahue had six terminations for the Pride.
The second set went to Springfield 25-19, but Tufts rallied right back with a strong response in the third game. The Jumbos led for much of the beginning of the set, but the visitors rallied back to make it 13-13. Tufts regained the lead on the next point on a service error, and then rattled off five in a row to take an 18-13 edge. Springfield pulled to within two at 18-16, but Heckman answered with a kill and first-year
Maiwenn Kamdje had two finishes down the stretch to help put Tufts up 2-1.
The fourth game was all Tufts, as it served strong while allowing Springfield to side out at just a 32 percent clip in pulling away for the win.
Claire Castor tallied five kills on six attempts in the clinching set, while the Jumbos also added 5.5 blocks in the stanza to help lock up the victory.
Overall, Castor tallied another double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs, marking her fifth of the season and fourth in the last five matches. She added a team-high three service aces to up her season total to 25 on the year.
Heckman finished with 11 kills on 28 attempts, blocking four Springfield attacks as well, and Kamdje hit .381 for the match with nine kills on 21 attempts.
Akpevwe Akpoigbe was effective with five kills on eight swings, adding three blocks, and
Alina Qi assisted on five blocks as well.
Sophomore setter
Rianna Liu just missed another double-double with 24 assists and nine digs, and Norris also was one dig shy of a double-double with 13 assists and nine digs. Graduate student
Christine Audette also picked up seven digs to go with four kills, and Griffths collected four kills and four blocks on the night. First-year
Matsa Shi also had a strong game with nine digs.
Tufts finished with 53 kills on 157 attempts, erring 17 times while recording a 75.5-61.0 edge in points. Tufts also recorded 10 service aces to just the four from the Pride, and also finished with a 12-7 block margin. Tufts has now defeated Springfield three straight times and seven of its last eight match-ups dating back to 2016.
Springfield (15-6) got 11 terminations from Donahue, while Maeve Voltz also had 10 kills. Tori Colosimo finished with 37 assists as well for the Pride.
The Jumbos will now look ahead to Saturday's affairs, taking on Babson College at 11 a.m. before battling host and No. 4 MIT at 3:30 p.m. in Cambridge, MA.
--JUMBOS--
