MEDFORD, MA (September 24, 2026) -- Five Tufts University hitters finished with seven or more kills Thursday evening, knocking off visiting WPI in three sets in non-conference inside Cousens Gymnasium. Tufts won with scores of 25-12, 25-15 and 25-22. 

Tufts (6-5) and its ability to end points on its first swing of a rally was the difference, as the Jumbos hit a sterling .419 on first ball attacks. Tufts finished the match with 47 kills over the three sets, hitting .250, as the 47 terminations in a three-set win is the most this season and the most since September 19, 2023 against Endicott College. 

Senior Claire Castor had a strong match with 12 kills on 29 kills, hitting .207 to go with eight digs for the match. Junior Maiwenn Kamdje terminated nine balls, while first-year Tessa Fergusson added seven kills and a team-best five blocks (two solo). Fergusson also hit a stellar .375 for the match. Senior Emma Heckman needed only 13 swings to get to seven kills, tallying a team-high two aces to go with five digs, and sophomore Hazel Nelson also put down seven attacks. 

Senior Rianna Liu had a strong match with 27 assists and seven digs, and Ellery Clark added 16 assists at a .533 assist rate. 

Senior Becca DePencier Piñero led all Jumbos players with 12 digs, and junior libero Dylan Whisenant also had 11 digs for the Jumbos. Junior Celina Savage came off the bench to tally four kills on seven attempts. 

Bridget Spees led the way for the Engineers (6-6) with seven terminations, Amelia Lynch had 17 assists and seven digs. WPI hit .075 (21-14-93) for the match, but did win the block battle with eight to the five from the Jumbos. 

The first set was close in the early going as Heckman broke a 9-9 tie with a kill, but the Jumbos rattled off 14 of 15 points to pull away for the early match lead. In the second, WPI couldn't keep up with the 16 kills from the Jumbos led by five from Kamdje. The Engineers fought in the third set, but six kills from Castor was too much as Tufts picked up its fourth sweep of the year. 

Tufts is back in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play Friday evening in Lewiston, Maine, taking on Bates College at 6 p.m. inside Underhill Arena.