MEDFORD, Mass. – The Tufts University women's volleyball team closed out the regular season with a statement on Saturday, sweeping Bowdoin College by scores of 25-17, 25-15 and 25-16 at Cousens Gym. The victory was the Jumbos' fifth in a row and improved them to 18-7 overall and 7-3 in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play, while the Polar Bears fell to 15-9 and 5-5.

Tufts controlled the match with efficient hitting and a strong presence at the net. The Jumbos hit .350 for the match, compared to .051 for the Polar Bears, and held a 40-23 advantage in kills. Bowdoin committed 19 attack errors, while Tufts had 12. The Jumbos also won the battle at the net, totaling 7.0 blocks (two solos and 10 assists) to Bowdoin's 5.0, and held edges in aces (8-5), assists (31-19) and digs (32-23).

Tufts hit .458 in the opening set, and Bowdoin trailed early. The Polar Bears struck first on a Kelsey Kim ace, and Hazel Nelson's kill tied it at 1-1, but the Jumbos took over from there. With Dylan Whisenant at the service line, Tufts reeled off six straight points to lead 8-2. Claire Castor and Tessa Fergusson blocked Tamara Gisiger to make it 4-2, Bowdoin errors pushed the lead to 6-2 and forced a timeout, and kills by Castor and Fergusson capped the run.

Bowdoin fought back, scoring five of the next six points to get within 9-7 and eventually pulling even at 11-11 on the first of two straight aces from Molly Dunn. The second gave the Polar Bears a 12-11 lead, their last of the set, and prompted a Tufts timeout. Celina Savage answered with a kill to tie it at 12-12, and Rianna Liu's service ace put the Jumbos back in front for good. Nelson's kill started a 4-0 run that made it 19-15, ending with a Fergusson and Maiwenn Kamdje block of Zoe Ryu. Tufts closed the set on kills by Fergusson and Savage. Castor hit .800 in the set with four kills and no errors.

The second set was tied six times early. Liu opened with back-to-back aces, but the teams traded points through ties at 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8. Bowdoin briefly led 5-4 on an Annie Stent ace before Kamdje tied it at 5-5. From 8-8, Tufts used a 7-1 run to take control, getting kills from Savage, Kamdje and Castor, two Ryu errors, and a service ace from Amanda Freehill to lead 15-9. Bowdoin called timeout at 14-9 and again later, but the Jumbos never trailed again.

Tufts sided out at an 80 percent clip in the second set, converting 12 of 15 opportunities. After a Tufts timeout at 15-11, Kamdje delivered back-to-back kills, Freehill added a kill and Fergusson and Castor blocked Alison Smith to make it 19-11. Emma Heckman put down consecutive kills to make it 22-13, and she added another at 24-15 before Nelson ended the set with a kill. Kamdje hit .714 in the set with five kills and no errors, and Heckman added three kills at .600. Tufts hit .429 as a team, while Bowdoin managed just .143.

In the third set, Tufts jumped ahead early as Bowdoin errors came off the blocks of Nelson and Savage and then Nelson alone, putting the Jumbos in front 2-1. The Polar Bears tied it at 3-3 on a Smith kill, but Tufts answered with a 7-1 run, scoring four straight on a Bowdoin service error, a Kamdje kill, a Whisenant ace and a Bowdoin bad set. After Liu's kill made it 8-4, Fergusson and Heckman blocked Ryu and Ellery Clark served an ace to make it 10-4 and send Bowdoin to a timeout.

The Polar Bears never got closer than six points after that stretch. Tufts led 16-8 behind kills from Nelson and Kamdje and pushed the lead to 18-10 on another Freehill ace. Bowdoin scored three straight to cut the lead to 22-16, prompting a Tufts timeout, but the Jumbos regrouped. Heckman stuffed Kim for a solo block to make it 24-16, and Savage finished the match with a kill. The Jumbos hit .179 in the final set while holding Bowdoin to .033 and recording 4.0 blocks.

Kamdje led Tufts with 9.5 points, recording nine kills while hitting .471 on 17 swings with just one error, and added a block assist. Castor was everywhere, with eight kills, a match-high 11 digs and two block assists to total 9.0 points, and she handled six serve receptions without an error. Heckman provided a spark with seven kills, a .583 attack percentage and no errors on 12 swings, plus a solo block and a block assist for 8.5 points.

Fergusson was a force at the net with four kills and four block assists, while Nelson contributed five kills at .571 along with a solo block and a block assist (6.5 points). Savage added five kills and eight clean receptions. Liu orchestrated the offense with 15 assists, three aces and seven digs, and Clark dished out 12 assists with two aces. Whisenant posted seven digs, Becca DePencier Pinero led the passing with 15 clean receptions, and Freehill added 10 receptions, a kill and two aces.

Bowdoin was led by Ryu, who totaled seven kills, two solo blocks, a block assist and an ace. Smith added five kills and a solo block for 6.0 points, and Haley Campau hit .333 with three kills and two block assists. Cameron Shelly had eight assists, while Dunn added four assists and two aces. Libero Anna Yeh led the back row with 20 receptions, six digs and five assists, and Kim had 18 receptions and four digs.

Bowdoin never hit better than .143 in a set and sided out at just 37, 48 and 41 percent, compared to 55, 64 and 80 percent for the Jumbos.

The Jumbos will now be the No. 3 seed in the NESCAC Tournament starting next Saturday, taking on No. 6 seed Bowdoin as these two teams will once again battle in Cousens Gymnasium at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, November 7. 

--JUMBOS--