SALISBURY, MD (September 6, 2025) -- The Tufts University volleyball squad rallied back from a 2-1 deficit against host Salisbury University to outlast the Sea Gulls in five sets, following that up with a 3-0 win over Gettysburg College to round out action with two wins at the Salisbury University Quad. Tufts knocked off SU 26-28. 26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 15-12, defeating Gettysburg in three sets, 25-12, 25-17 and 25-23.
Match 1: Tufts 3, Salisbury 2
The Jumbos trailed two sets to one after three following a 25-19 win by the Sea Gulls, but Tufts fired back to win the fourth 25-22 along with a 15-12 win in the fifth set to pick up the big road victory.
The Jumbos had to fight back in the first set to tie the match at 24, and had set point at 26-25 but the Sea Gulls (4-1) won the final three points to clinch the opening stanza. In the second, Tufts roared out to an 8-3 lead and led all the way until Salisbury made it 16-16 following a three-point run. Tufts answered that with three straight points, leading until another push from Salisbury made it 24-24. The Jumbos would deadlock the match though thanks to back-to-back blocks from
Julia Griffiths.
Following a third-set win by SU, Tufts saw its offensive unit come to life as a 5-1 run through the period made it 20-16. SU wouldn't go away with a 3-0 run, but another three-point spurt by Tufts capped by an
Ellery Clark ace made it 23-19. Kills from junior
Bridget Lonergan and
Maiwenn Kamdje would close out the set for the Jumbos.
In the fifth, Tufts pushed out to a quick 8-4 lead and led the rest of the set as consecutive kills from
Claire Castor led to the match-clinching termination from
Emma Heckman to earn the victory.
Heckman tallied a team-high 14 kills, adding five blocks and three digs, while Kamdje equaled Heckman with 14 kills, hitting .357 for the match. Castor connected for 10 kills and eight digs, while Griffiths had five kills, two aces, five blocks and a pair of digs.
Rianna Liu had a double-double of 27 assists and 12 digs in five sets of action, and Clark added 25 assists and four aces. First-year
Amanda Freehill also posted five aces for Tufts, which totaled 17 for the match. The 17 aces were the most in a match for Tufts since 18 last year against Williams College on November 9, 2024.
Sophomore
Keller Mobley added five kills and eight digs for Tufts, which swing at a .181 hitting clip for the match.
Matsa Shi also contributed five aces and six digs, while Becca DePencier Pinero had seven digs.
Kiley McTaggart tallied 20 kills in the loss for the Sea Gulls.
Match 2: Tufts 3, Gettysburg 0
The Jumbos followed their opening match victory up with a strong performance in the second game of the day, as Tufts hit .277 for the match, collecting 43 kills.
Castor posted nine kills on just 14 attempts, adding two aces and eight digs for the Jumbos. Heckman hit .727 against the Bullets with eight terminations on 11 attempts, and
Akpevwe Akpoigbe needed just 11 swings to collect seven kills. Junior
Bridget Lonergan and sophomore
Celina Savage each posted six kills apiece, while
Rianna Liu and
Ellery Clark combined for 32 assists in the match. Shi finished with five aces and nine digs as well.
The Jumbos finished with a 38-31 edge in digs, while posting a 9-2 advantage in aces.
Alycen Adolovic had five kills to lead the way for Gettysburg (2-3).
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Tufts will now turn its attention to Wednesday evening, traveling to Worcester to take on WPI at 6 p.m. in non-conference action.
--JUMBOS--
