MEDFORD, MA (September 11, 2026) -- The No. 21 Tufts University volleyball team earned a statement victory Friday evening, knocking off No. 2 ranked and previously undefeated Trinity University of Texas in three sets in the 2026 home opener for the Jumbos. Tufts outlasted Trinity 32-30 in the opening set, before taking the second set 25-21 and closing it out 25-18. 

The victory marked the highest ranked opponent that Tufts has beaten since November 11, 2021 when the Jumbos topped No. 1 Johns Hopkins University in the NCAA Tournament Regional title game in Baltimore. This was also just the fourth three-set loss that the Tigers have taken since the 2024 season. 

The Jumbos (3-2) got contributions from the entire lineup offensively on Friday night, as senior Emma Heckman led the squad with a match-high 13 kills while adding two aces and two digs. Senior Claire Castor also had eight kills, a match-high 12 digs and four aces, while junior Maiwenn Kamdje and first-year Tessa Fergusson also added six terminations. Sophomore middle Hazel Nelson posted five kills and four blocks, and Destine Francis was stellar in relief with four finishes on six attempts. Francis recorded two big assisted blocks as well.

The first set was the tone setter for the entire match for Tufts, as the Jumbos scored six of the matches' first seven points en route to leading 11-4 in the early going. Trinity (5-1) battled back and tied the score at 18 after a kill from Taylor Starr. Trinity took its first lead of the match at 20-19 but Tufts pushed back on kills from Nelson and Heckman to make it 23-22 Jumbos. 

From that point on, it was a slug fest as both squads refused to go away, both fighting off set point after set point. Tufts had three set points denied by the Tigers, who fending off three from Trinity to make the score 30-30 after a kill from Heckman. Kamdje put Tufts back in front with a kill, and Heckman finished off the set with a termination to give the early lead to the hosts. Heckman had six kills in the opening stanza, as Tufts hit .359 in the first frame. 

The second set was close the entire way, with both teams having extended runs countered by long spurts by the opposition. With Trinity leading 18-17, Heckman tallied three straight kills followed by back-to-back assisted blocks by Nelson and Francis to give Tufts a 22-18 edge. Trinity pulled to within two at 22-20, but Francis and Kamdje had kills along with a set-clinching solo block by Nelson to make the match score 2-0 Jumbos. 

In the third set, both teams started to slow down offensively, but Tufts finished strong with an 8-1 run with the match deadlocked at 17 to pull away for the victory. 

Senior setter Rianna Liu was solid with 18 assists and five digs while fellow setter Ellery Clark added 18 kills and six digs. Junior Dylan Whisenant recorded two aces and nine digs at libero, and Amanda Freehill came off the bench to record six digs as well. 

As a squad, Tufts hit a solid .219 (44-19-114) for the match, while holding an 11-4 edge in the service ace department. Tufts also had a 50-44 advantage in digs. 

Trinity was led by the 13 terminations from Lily Long, as she also posted four blocks. Kendall DeRivel had 15 assists and seven digs, both team highs, and Anna Verhoff had 15 helpers as well. Trinity hit an identical .219 on the night, posting 42 kills on 114 attempts.

Tufts is now 3-0 all-time against Trinity.

The Jumbos will turn around and take on Salisbury University at 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, also hosting Bowdoin College at 5 p.m. inside Cousens Gymnasium in the finale of the Tufts University Invitational.