MIDDLETOWN, CT (October 31, 2025) -- Sophomore right-side hitter
Maiwenn Kamdje posted a career-high 19 kills for the Tufts University volleyball squad, powering the Jumbos to a big huge 3-2 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) road win over No. 14 Wesleyan University in action from Silloway Gymnasium.
With the victory, Tufts (19-5, 7-3 NESCAC) clinched a top four seed in the upcoming NESCAC Tournament starting next Saturday, September 9, and will host a quarterfinal contest in Cousens Gymnasium. The loss was Wesleyan's first within the NESCAC this season, while snapping a 10-match winning streak for the Cardinals. Wesleyan had dropped just two sets within the NESCAC this year prior to Friday.
The match was close the entire but in the end it was the Jumbos ability to terminate plays offensively that was the difference. Tufts posted a big 73-45 edge in kills on Friday evening, led by Kamdje, who finished with her career-high in that category. The sophomore hit .371 on 35 attempts, posting her third straight match with 10 or more kills.
Another key to Tufts win was the emergence of sophomore
Ruby Flath, who also registered a career-high 12 kills in the win, hitting .417 for the night. Flath had posted just 10 kills all season prior to Friday evening, but her play was huge all night.
In one of the most competitive matches of the NESCAC schedule, both teams refused to go away as the match featured 24 tie scores and 15 lead changes.
The Jumbos took the first set after accumulating 17 terminations in the first stanza, while leading most of the frame. Tufts led 17-13 but Wesleyan rallied to tied the set at 19 after a kill from Mila Chan.
Tufts rattled off the next three points and pulled away for the set victory after a Kamdje kill. In the second set, Tufts got down by as many as seven but rallied back to tie the set at 21 after another kill from Kamdje. Wesleyan would settle and take the next four points to deadlock the match at a set apiece.
In the third the Jumbos had a lead as lade as 20-17 after a Flath termination, but Wesleyan came back with five straight points while ending the period on an 8-1 run to take a 2-1 match edge.
The fourth set saw Tufts race out to an early lead, holding a lead all the way until a 5-0 run by Wesleyan gave the Cardinals a 19-17 lead. Wesleyan would lead 21-19 but a four-point stretch pushed the Jumbos back ahead at 23-21.
After a Wesleyan point, Tufts got a kill from Kamdje along with an attacking error by the Cardinals to send the match to the the fifth set.
The final race to 15 saw the Jumbos trail 8-6 at the switch, but Tufts collected the next four points capped by a fantastic solo block by
Emma Heckman to make it 10-8. Wesleyan pushed back ahead at 11-10 but the Jumbos answered with a 3-0 run of their own highlighted by an ace by
Dylan Whisenant to make it 13-11.
After a timeout and a Cardinals' point, Tufts got a big kill from Flath to make it 14-12 and the match would end on an free ball by junior
Rianna Liu that was mishandled by the Cardinals to clinch the win for Tufts.
Junior
Claire Castor posted yet another double-double for the Jumbos, recording 11 kills to go with 13 digs. She wasn't the only player with a double-double, as Liu was fantastic with 23 assists, 18 digs and five kills.
Heckman had five kills and four digs, while
Akpevwe Akpoigbe and
Emma Norman each had four terminations as well. Sophomore
Matsa Shi had 12 digs and eight assists at libero, and
Lola Tortorello finished with a double-double as well of 12 assists and 10 digs.
The 73 kills for the Jumbos Friday was a season-high and the most for a Tufts squad since hammering down 74 against Williams College on October 13, 2023.
Senior Sophia Lindus had 19 kills for Wesleyan, adding 10 digs, and Chan tallied 10 kills as well for the Cardinals. Adrienne Nguyen had 14 digs, and Ali Landa led the Cardinals with 16 assists.
Tufts finishes its regular season with the win Friday, but will now wait to see who it will host next Saturday in Cousens Gymnasium in the NESCAC Quarterfinals.
--JUMBOS--
