MIDDLETOWN, CT (November 14, 2025) -- The No. 20 Tufts University women's volleyball battled back from a first-set loss to host and top-seed Wesleyan University, taking the next three sets to earn a spot in Saturday's New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title match with a 3-1 win over the Cardinals in semifinal action from Silloway Gymnasium.
Tufts won its fifth straight match with the victory, earning the win with a 14-25, 25-19, 25-23 and 25-22 win over Wesleyan. The Jumbos will battle No. 2 seed Colby College Sunday in the NESCAC Championship match, after Colby outlasted No. 3 seed Williams in five sets in the second of the two semifinals Friday evening.
The story of the match was Tufts' (21-5) ability to terminate points, which was a deciding factor in the regular season victory over the Cardinals two weeks ago. The Jumbos hammered down 59 kills including 17 in the second and third sets. The offensive unit hit .211 for the match, including .306 in the second frame.
The Jumbos saw three players in double digit kills on Friday evening, led by sophomore
Maiwenn Kamdje and he 15 kills on 34 attempts. Kamdje has 10 or more kills in each of her last five matches, as her top two hitting matches of the season have come against Wesleyan.
Junior
Akpevwe Akpoigbe also had a big game for Tufts in the middle, hitting .391 on the way to 13 terminations. Junior setter
Rianna Liu tallied 30 assists and four aces, along with six digs in a win.
After a decisive win for Wesleyan in the opening set, Tufts led the entire set in the second frame using a 4-0 run to finish off the set to deadlock the match at a set apiece.
In the third set, Wesleyan (20-3) led 13-10 but the Jumbos rattled off five straight points highlighted by a pair of kills and a block by Kamdje. The Cardinals responded by regaining the lead at 20-18, but a five-point spurt saw the Jumbos jump back on top thanks to great defensive play at the net by senior
Julia Griffiths.
Wesleyan pulled to within one at 24-23 but a
Claire Castor kill pushed the Jumbos up 2-1 in the match. The fourth set was similar to the third, as Wesleyan took a late lead at 19-17 following a 3-0 run on the strength of back-to-back kills from Siena Steines.
The Jumbos came right back with a 5-1 run to take a 22-20 edge, and sophomore
Keller Mobley put the finishing touches on the win with two kills down the stretch to push Tufts into the title match.
The NESCAC Championship appearance will be the 13th in program history for the Jumbos, and first since winning the league in 2022 at Wesleyan over the hosts. Tufts and Colby met in the 2005 NESCAC title match, with the Mules winning their only conference crown that season.
Castor tallied 11 kills, two service aces and four digs, while Griffiths had six kills and five assisted blocks. Junior
Emma Heckman also posted six kills, three digs and two assisted blocks, while Mobley recorded five kills and four digs.
Ellery Clark posted 19 assists and two aces as well for the Jumbos, recording her first double-double with 10 digs. Sophomore
Matsa Shi had 17 digs as well for the Jumbos.
Steines had 14 kills for the Cardinals, while Sophia Lindus added nine terminations for Wesleyan.
Tufts and Colby will square off at 3 p.m. for the NESCAC crown in Middletown.
--JUMBOS--
