The men's club volleyball team left last Wednesday for the National's tournament in Kansas City, MO ranked in the top 15 in the nation. But after a disappointing four days, it returned Sunday downtrodden, after finishing 42nd overall. With one starting player missing, the typically solid Tufts squad found itself in the running for a copper medal, but lost in the first round of playoff matches against Columbia University.
"One of our starters didn't come because of school obligations," senior captain Adam Goldfarb said. "We tried to move things around, but by the time we put something good together it was too late."
Thursday was the first day of play - pools of four teams played each other in best of three matches to determine their seeding in the following rounds. In the first two games, Tufts tried playing with senior setter Charlie Beckman starting in the outside hitter position. This, however, proved ineffective as Tufts, ranked first in its pool, lost its first two matches against the third-ranked Lehigh team, and University of Chicago, ranked fourth. The Jumbos recovered to win their third match against Lakeland College in Wisconsin with Beckman back at setter, sophomore middle hitter Mike Lutz at outside hitter, and grad student Evan Westrate holding things down in the middle.
Finishing last in its pool on Thursday placed Tufts in the bottom bracket for Friday's pool play, in which teams compete for the bronze and copper metals. The team went 2-1 for the day defeating Bethel and Texas Tech, while falling to Central Michigan State. Ending Friday in the top half of the bracket placed Tufts in Saturday's single elimination playoffs for the bronze metal. This was a frustrating place for a talented Tufts team.
"Once we started losing, we started getting mad," Goldfarb said "This just made the whole week worse."
Tufts' first and only playoff match was against Columbia. All teams are required to work and help set up for other matches, which Columbia failed to do, forfeiting its first game against Tufts. Columbia took the second game and in the third game, Tufts was up 13-9 but could not off its opponent, losing by a 17-15.
"It was very poor play on our part," Goldfarb said. "It is reflective of the whole week and a bad way to end things."
Other teams in the New England Collegiate Volleyball League also did not meet expectations. Top finishers included the strong Boston College squad that ended fifth overall but had the potential to finish even higher. MIT placed ninth for the tournament.
"Our league didn't do too well," Goldfarb said. "But [Nationals] brings the whole league together, we all cheer for each other."
Although the Tufts team expected to do better and is disappointed by this past weekend's results, team members look forward to this weekend's Bean Pot tournament in the Cabot gym at Northeastern. Modeled after the famous hockey tournament, this Bean Pot pits Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, and Tufts against each other.
According to Goldfarb, Tufts is looking to "play some volleyball and have some fun."
Despite its recent stumble, the club volleyball team has a bright future. While four seniors are graduating, sophomore Jeff Van Der Veer will return to lead the squad and the team expects to fill the gaps created by the departing seniors. Important returnees for next season include middle hitter Lutz, sophomore setter John McAllister, and freshman outside hitter Dan Coleman.
"We leave the team in good hands, [Jeff] has great natural leadership skills," Goldfarb said. "There are a few positions to fill but there is a solid group staying."
