A confident volleyball squad beats up Clark

For the second consecutive year the volleyball team reached the 20 win plateau thanks to a 3-1 victory over Clark College last Thursday. With an overall record of 20-12, and a conference record of 6-4, the Jumbos are seeded sixth in the NESCAC playoffs.

Although the match ended 3-1, it was not that close. Tufts dominated for the majority of the game, winning its sets 30-18, 30-22, and 30-15, while the Penguins managed to eek out a 30-27 victory in the second set.

The back-line combination of senior Paulette Pacheco and junior Danielle Cafasso continued their impressive play, totaling 29 and 23 digs respectively. The front-line of the Jumbo defense played well as a group, as the team recorded 16 assisted blocks.

On the offensive end junior Amy Cronin led the team with 25 kills. Freshman April Gerry and sophomore Ali Sauer also had a good game, tallying 14 and ten spikes respectively. The spikers benefited greatly from strong setting work by junior Lindsey Moses, who averaged over 14 assists per game.

Despite the win however, all is not well for the Jumbos. The team is banged up after fighting through a rigorous season during which the team played more than four times a week. Thus, the seven-day break between the Clark game and the start of the NESCAC playoffs will be crucial period as the team hopes to get as close to 100 percent as possible.

The biggest injury to the team came when sophomore hitter Emily Macy went down with an ankle sprain and missed the end of the season.

"Macy will definitely be back in action in time for NESCACs," assistant coach Jessica Stewart said.

It was important that after losing its previous two games, Tufts took care of Clark to give itself some momentum heading into the NESCAC Championship on Nov. 8 and 9 at Williams College. The Jumbos will begin their drive for the title with a match against third-seeded Amherst.

In their previous match against Amherst, the Jumbos went down in straight sets. That match was Tufts fourth match in two days, however, as the game came on the tail end of a NESCAC weekend held in Cousens Gym. The team was fatigued and did not play its best game. But, it was also the fourth game of the weekend for Amherst.

Although Tufts lost to Amherst in their previous meeting, the Jumbos are very positive going into their second match with Amherst.

"I am completely confident that we can win that game. We are a faster, a more intense, and a more disciplined team than they are," Pacheco said. "Amherst is a really quiet team and I just think we need to keep our energy up and let our enthusiasm fuel us. We definitely didn't play our game when we saw them earlier in the season, so they still haven't really seen us. We are all really excited that we get to see them first."

Coach Cora Thompson is also confident that if the Jumbos play to their potential they can handle Amherst. As a result, she is not planning any major changes to combat the Jeffs.

Amherst is 19-6 overall, with an impressive 8-2 record in conference. Its two losses in conference came at the hands of the one and two seeds in the tournament, Williams and Colby respectively. The Lady Jeffs also defeated Colby once, as did Tufts. The winner of the Tufts-Amherst game should face Colby in the semifinals.

Williams is the odds on favorite. The defending NESCAC champions added the 2002 Little III Championship to their resume with wins over Amherst and Wesleyan this weekend. The Ephs are 9-1 in the conference, having lost to Colby once. Williams defeated the Jumbos 3-0 in their one match this year.

The Jumbos seemed unfazed by an opponent as menacing as the purple clad Ephs.

"Player for player I honestly believe that we are better than any other team in the league," Cronin said. "If we play our best, sell out, and leave it all out on the court, I believe we will come back from Williamstown with a NESCAC championship."