Jumbos fall short to Amherst as Williams captures crown

Williams College won the NESCAC Championship for the second year in a row and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA div. III tournament. Also for the second year in a row, the Jumbos fell in the NESCAC tournament's first round. However this year it was Amherst, not Bates who ended the Jumbo tournament run all too early.

The Jumbos fell in four sets, 15-30, 30-25, 25-30, 21-30.Team members described the loss as "frustrating."

"What makes me mad is that I felt us being very tentative," senior Paulette Pacheco said. "Yes, we can all say that each of us gave it all we had, but as a whole it wasn't happening. I felt like we were all going through the motions of our playing system, but our natural instincts weren't there."

A slow start plaguing the Jumbo's for the final time this season, the team appeared to be out of contention from the first set. Starting slow has been a problem for Tufts throughout the season. They quickly put themselves in a hole that was hard to dig out of against a talented Amherst squad.

The Jumbos managed to rebound in the second set. The team came out with more energy and was a lot more talkative according to Coach Cara Thompson. The passing started coming together and the defense stepped it up.

The third set, always crucial, saw the Jumbos a little flat.

One of the bright spots in the match was junior standout Amy Cronin, who had some great hits over and through the legion of Amherst blockers. The passing however was not consistent enough to give the Jumbos a chance. Amherst was the better team. The Jumbos did not lose the game as much as the Jeffs won it.

"If I had to pick one thing that really hurt us," Thompson said, "it would be our blocking. Our blocking is a key part of our game, and we just didn't have it. They are a tall team and they have a great setter who is really quick in setting up the hitters."

That setter, sophomore Annie Hoeksma, had a variety of hitters to pick from, as four Jeffs are listed at 5'10" or taller. Hoeksma is also listed at 5'10." It was this overwhelming size that spelled Tuft's fate and led Amherst to the title game.

Sophomore Emily Macy, a key hitter up front, came back for the match. She had been out with a sprained ankle for over a week, but decided to try and play on her ankle. The ankle seemed to bother her during the game though. She didn't have confidence landing on it, and could not jump and land on the foot effectively.

Although this season is over, the future looks bright for the Jumbos, as they will graduate just one player during the off-season.

"I am excited for next year," Thompson said. "We have a very young team. We have three strong juniors and two freshmen that have started every game. Next year we will have a lot of experience going into the season."

Those three juniors are hitter and NECAC player of the week Cronin, along with setter Lindsey Moses and defensive specialist Danielle Cafasso. Cafasso will have to step up to fill the void left behind by defensive specialist Pacheco. Freshman April Gerry and Courtney Evans, having one year of NESCAC play under their belt , should only get stronger. When a healthy Macy and fellow sophomore Alison Sauer are added into the mix the Jumbos will have a more experienced replica of this year's squad.

But is that enough to make a difference in the conference? Williams will not graduate a single player from the two-time NESCAC Champions. Amherst will lose just one of their giant hitters. The conference will not be getting any easier. The Jumbos will have to raise their level of play next year to have success.