Top-Seeded Tufts Moves Past Wesleyan 3-0 in Volleyball Quarterfinals
Courtesy Tufts Sports Information
MEDFORD, Mass. - The top seeded Tufts University Jumbos opened the 2009 NESCAC Volleyball Championship on their home court with a three-set victory over the eighth seeded Cardinals of Wesleyan University on Friday night. The Jumbos got victories of 29-27, 25-23, and 25-16 to advance to the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
The match was high energy from the beginning, and would not let up, featuring many long points and good heads-up plays from both sides.
Tufts jumped out to an early 13-9 lead behind the serving of first-year Brittany Neff (Culver City, Calif.), who pumped in an early ace in a five-point Jumbo scoring streak. Wesleyan came roaring back, and behind the serving of junior Ruby Hernandez (West Palm Beach, Fla.) took the lead at 22-20. Senior Ashley Farrow (Evanston, Ill.) led the charge for Wesleyan with three kills in the first set.
The Cardinals battled to a 24-23 lead, and looked poised to start off the party with an upset, but squandered the chance after a service error. Both teams had chances to put the game away with the set in extra points, but were unable to finish it off. Finally, Neff and senior co-captain Dena Feiger (Long Grove, Ill.) combined for a crucial block, putting Tufts up 28-27, before Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, Nev.) put the game away. Mendive would prove to be the answer for the Jumbos all night long, as she led the home team with 16 kills, contributing 4+ kills in each of the three sets.
Fired up by their first-set comeback, Tufts came out strong in the second set and took a 10-5 lead, helped by great digs from several players and a big block by Lexi Nicholas (San Diego, Calif.). As they had in the first game, Wesleyan courageously fought back, putting Tufts on the ropes again. Junior Lesley Faulkner (Middletown, Conn.) won seven straight points for the Cardinals, a streak in which she recorded two aces, and Wesleyan took a 15-12 lead. The Jumbos fought back with the help of junior Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), who had five of her 12 kills in the second game. Updike and Nicholas combined on a block to put Tufts up 23-21, and Updike sealed the game with two more kills.
A second serving ace by Kuan, and another from junior Nancy Shrodes (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) helped Tufts jump out to leads of 9-2 and 15-5 in the third set, en route to a 25-16 victory and a three-set win.
Feiger tallied 39 assists for Tufts. On defense, Kuan’s 19 digs along with 13 by Feiger paced the Jumbos.
Ellie Healy (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) set up 29 points for the visitors. Sophomore Casey Reed (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) assisted on five blocks for Wesleyan, and added five kills in defeat. Faulkner and Farrow each had eight kills to co-lead the Cardinals on the evening, while Hernandez led the team with 16 digs.
Tufts improved to 27-3 overall, while Wesleyan finished its season at 13-14. The Jumbos will host the winner of the Middlebury vs. Amherst match-up on Saturday afternoon.
