CAMBRIDGE, MA (October 26, 2024) -- The Tufts University volleyball team played well on Saturday afternoon in the second and final day of action in the 2024 New England Challenge, defeating Babson College 3-0 before falling to No. 4 MIT in four sets.
Tufts defeated Babson with scores of 25-17, 26-24 and 25-23, before falling to the host Engineers 26-24, 25-21, 21-25 and 25-11. Sophomore
Akpevwe Akpoigbe was named to the New England Challenge All-Tournament Team for her play over the three matches against Springfield College, Babson and MIT.
Match 1: Tufts 3, Babson 0
Sophomore
Emma Heckman was stellar offensively with eight kills on 18 attempts, while first-year
Matsa Shi had 15 digs to lead the for the Jumbos in a three-set victory over Babson. The Jumbos did a great job of avoiding the Babson block, as the Beavers (21-3) had no rejections for the match.
In the opening set, Tufts held a slight lead at 15-13 but the Jumbos tallied four straight points to make it 19-13. Babson cut it to three at 19-16 on a kill from Hailey Fouche, but first-year
Maiwenn Kamdje and Akpoigbe tallied back-to-back kills to make it 21-16. The Jumbos would then clinch the set on a 3-0 run, as
Claire Castor recorded an ace for the 25-17 win.
In the second, both teams held large leads before Babson took a 22-19 lead after a Tufts' attacking error. The Jumbos recorded four straight points to regain the lead at 23-22 on a block by Akpoigbe and Heckman, and then fought off a set point at 24-23 as Castor again clinched the set at 26-24 on an ace.
In the third, Tufts led from the start until midway through the stanza when the Beavers rallied to tie the set at 19 on another kill from Fouche. The game stayed close until at 22-22 Heckman posted a kill and then a block to give Tufts some cushion, and Akpoigbe recorded a kill to secure the win.
Heckman added three blocks to her team-high kill total, while graduate student
Christine Audette posted six kills on 23 swings while recording nine digs as well. Akpoigbe posted six terminations and four total blocks, and
Alina Qi also had five kills, two aces and two blocks.
Sophomore
Rianna Liu finished with 15 assists and nine digs, while
Ella Norris also handed out nine helpers to go with her four digs. Castor had a team-high three aces and recorded eight digs as well.
Fouche had 11 kills and eight digs in the loss, and Lauren Gips also recorded 10 kills for the Beavers.
Match 2: No. 4 MIT 3, Tufts 1
The Jumbos fought hard against the undefeated Engineers, taking a set off the hosts for just the ninth time this season before falling in four games.
Tufts didn't shy away from the Engineers, leading late in the first set at 20-17 after a service ace from Shi. MIT posted four straight points, but Tufts answered with a 3-0 run to make it 23-21 in favor of the Jumbos. The Engineers responded with a 5-1 run, tallying back-to-back blocks to take the first set 26-24.
In the second the Jumbos fell behind 12-4 midway through the set but slowly worked back into the contest before tying the game at 19 on a block by Akpoigbe. The set would remain tied at 20 but a four-point run by the Engineers was enough to help make the match 2-0.
In the third, Tufts would take the upper hand early with the period's first four points, leading by as many as seven in the stanza after a block by Qi to make it 13-6. MIT would make it close late in the set at 24-21, but the Jumbos would earn the set on an attacking error by MIT. In the fourth, MIT would take command, scoring nine of the first 10 points of the game to cruise to the match victory.
Akpoigbe was one of three hitters with eight kills in the match, adding two blocks, and Castor also recorded eight kills and seven digs for the Jumbos. Heckman also added eight terminations and two blocks, while
Keller Mobley came off the bench to finish with a career-high six kills.
Qi also was strong at the net with eight total blocks, tallying five kills, and Shi also had 14 digs and six assists. Norris had 19 assists and eight digs for Tufts, and Liu posted 18 kills and seven digs.
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Tufts (11-10) will host Endicott College Wednesday, October 30 at 6 p.m. inside Cousens Gymnasium in the final non-conference match of the 2024 season.
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