Volleyball tops Brandeis again

In its second match against Brandeis this season, the Tufts women's volleyball team played almost a carbon copy of the first match, beating Brandeis 3-1 on Tuesday.

Tufts expended all the energy to topple Brandeis in the second set this time around, winning by the slimmest of margins, 31-29. In its previous match, played at the Bates Invitational in Lewiston, ME, Tufts won the second set by just three points, 30-27. Then, due to some mis-hits on kill attempts, the Jumbos suddenly found themselves down big in the third set. And although Tufts put up a good fight, it was never able to climb out of the hole it had dug and lost the third set, just as it had in its first encounter with Brandeis. And to add to the coincidences, the Jumbos came back from their disappointing third set to close out Brandeis, as they had 18 days before, with a dominant fourth set. Freshman April Gerry led the team with 19 kills.

But news was not all good for Tufts. Emily Macy went down with an injured ankle early in the first set, and returned later on crutches. Sophomore Rebecca Shaevitz really stepped up for the team, having a good all-around game with nine kills, ten digs, and two aces.

"In games I'm usually a very consistent server," Shaevitz said. "I usually am able to hit my spots, if not I usually get it in."

With the victory, the Jumbos' record improves to 17-9. Their conference record remains the same at 6-4.

The Tufts squad is currently on a three-game winning streak thanks to a strong showing this weekend at Colby College, where it went 2-1. The team defeated both Bowdoin and Colby, and dropping its game against Bates.

The Jumbos' weekend ended with possibly the biggest win they have produced all year, as they swept the team with the second best record in the league and the host, Colby College.

"Colby will hopefully be the turning point in our season," coach Thompson said. "The team knew that this was a huge match and stepped on the court ready to play from the beginning."

Shaking off the fatigue that has plagued the Jumbos on many a NESCAC weekend this year, the Tufts team played well on both sides of the ball. Four players had at least nine kills, with Junior Amy Cronin leading the way, notching 12. Cronin also had a big day serving, totaling five aces. Because of her stellar play over the weekend, Cronin was named NESCAC player of the week.

On defense, the squad had one of its best blocking games all season. Though blocking is not usually a strength for Tufts, the whole team produced against Colby, with six players helping for at least two blocks. Freshman Courtney Evans led the team with seven blocks. The backline also played well, gobbling up any balls that squirted through the defensive frontline. Sophomore Emily Macy led the team with 13 digs, but senior Paulette Pacheco, junior Danielle Cafasso, and sophomore Ali Sauer were right behind her, with 12 digs each.

The win gave the Jumbos the sixth seed at the NESCAC Volleyball Championships, while Colby was dropped from a tie with Williams and given the second seed in the tournament. Third seeded Amherst will be Tufts' first round opponent. Amherst won the only match the two played 3-0, but anything can happen, as Colby also beat Amherst before playing Tufts last weekend.

Earlier in the day, the Jumbos defeated Bowdoin 3-1. The Jumbos dropped the second set, but demolished Bowdoin in the other three sets. Tufts won by an average of over 19 points in its three victorious sets. Cronin and Gerry tied for the lead in kills, with 11 apiece. The Jumbos punished Bowdoin with the serve, as the team scored 19 service aces over the four sets. Lindsey Moses did most of the damage, accounting for seven of those aces to go along with 34 assists.

Due to the Tufts potent offense, the defense had a much easier time, with Emily Macy the only player to total double digits in digs, with ten.

The Jumbos began their weekend with a disappointing loss to Bates in four close sets.

The regular season is for the most part over for the Jumbos. They have secured a .500 record in the NESCAC conference, with their final conference game at Wesleyan next Tuesday. They will be playing this weekend in the Hall of Fame Tournament. However the rest of the season is just a tune-up for Nov. 8.

The best teams from the NESCAC will converge on Williams College to participate in the NESCAC Championship Tournament. Holding the titles of defending champion, host, and top seed, Williams is the odds on favorite. However as this weekend showed, any team can be beaten on any given day, and if the Jumbos stay hot going into the tournament they will be tough to beat.