After seeing its ranking drop from fourth to eighth in the Division III regional poll, the women's volleyball team was searching for retribution. The Jumbos found it this past weekend at the Bates Invitational, where a new offensive strategy helped Tufts snatch wins from three of four competitors to improve its record to 12-5.
On Friday, the squad went undefeated, taking a close five-game match against Oneonta State before walking over Salisbury State in three straight. The 2-0 mark on the first day of competition qualified the Brown and Blue for the championship bracket on Saturday. Brandeis, the team's first opponent, went down quickly in a 3-1 match. But MIT was a tougher match, and Tufts lost to the Engineers in three games.
The squad had yet to click in the front row, so before the Jumbos headed to the tournament, coach Kris Talon simplified her offense. "Since the offense is struggling, I wanted to simplify the rotation," Talon said. "We practiced it for one hour and then used it in the tournament this weekend to practice against live competition."
Since the squad has avoided injuries this season, Talon is trying to give all of her players at least one game of playing time. This weekend proved no different and the squad responded, highlighted by Co-captain Jessica Stewart, who was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Tufts' first victim at Bates was Oneonta State. It was not an easy match for the group, as it went five games, with the Jumbos coming out on top (23-30, 30-26, 31-29, 29-31, 15-11). It looked as if the new offense helped the team in the much-needed win. The change gave the outside hitters more chances to hit the ball, and the middle saw fewer sets. In the match, however, the ball still moved evenly along the front row.
Back-up setter Rebecca Schaevitz replaced Lindsey Moses in games four and five and stayed in the starting setter role for the rest of the tournament. Co-captains Stewart, Megan Pitcavage, and freshman Emily Macy crushed the ball, racking up 13,12, and 11 kills, respectively. "Our offense wasn't clicking," Talon said. "It wasn't clear what it was. So we wanted to see if it made a difference who was setting."
Salisbury State, with record of 12-6, was a more athletic team for the Jumbos to face, but Tufts came away with a convincing 3-0 win (30-27, 30-17, 30-21). Blocking was a huge factor for the Jumbos, who have been working on their defense. Sophomore Amy Cronin, who Talon calls one of the best blockers in the region, recorded six blocks in the game to go along with her five service aces.
"Salisbury State has good hitters," Cronin said. "It was good to get my blocking game in order since that is what I am usually best at."
After a night of rest, the Jumbos took on Brandeis, a team that beat them twice last season. But this time, the Tufts squad was able to walk away with a 3-1 win (30-14, 30-26, 26-30, 30-26). Stewart, who played in all four games and came away with an impressive 31 kills in 49 attempts, was a major factor in the Brandeis win. "That is definitely a season high for [Stewart]," Talon said. "Probably even a career high. I just can't believe it, but that is what the stats say so it must be true."
Not only did Stewart have 31 kills, she also had ten service aces, 18 digs, and three blocks. And Stewart was not the only Jumbo in double digits for kills; she was joined by her front row counterparts Macy (16) and Cronin (12). Junior Paulette Pacheco helped the defense with nine digs. "Paulette [Pacheco] has great skills," Talon said. "She has started to come into the back row for Amy [Cronin] more and more."
To end the two-day competition, Tufts went up against its hardest-hitting enemy, the MIT Engineers. The Engineers were ranked first in the region last week and have defeated Tufts every time the teams have faced in the last two years. Once again, Tufts buckled against MIT, knocking down only 23 kills in 92 attempts, while its service errors outweighed service aces (4 to 3). In the end, Tufts lost 30-22, 30-14, 30-18.
"We played amazingly better than last time we played them," freshman Carie Fowler said. "We let the ball drop in the second game and the match kind of went downhill from there, but we felt a lot better. We were really playing together as a team."
The Jumbos will next take on Wellesley, one of the top teams in the Northeast, at home on Thursday at 7 p.m.
