Jumbos to battle rival Amherst tonight in NESCAC Champs

Today, Tufts volleyball team will begin its fight to earn the coveted NESCAC Championship trophy and a spot in the NCAA National Tournament, a goal the team had sets its sights on in the preseason.

Ending a regular season with a record of 20-10 is an accomplishment in and of itself. However, this is a squad that will not be satisfied unless all of the challenges it set for itself are met.

"We need to rally ourselves for this weekend," coach Cora Thompson said. "There are two muscles of this team, heart and attitude, and that is exactly what we need to bring to the table."

Standing in the way of Tufts' aspirations will be a quarterfinal game against Amherst on Friday night, which promises to be a grudge match between the fourth and fifth seeded teams. There will be many demons Tufts has to face concerning this specific game, a setting that would make this particular victory so much sweeter.

To start off, the Jumbos have not been able to take down the Jeffs in their last nine meetings--a losing streak that has stretched over five seasons. Granted, Amherst has traditionally been a strong contender in the NESCAC, while Tufts has only recently come into its own as a team to beat in the conference. But a significant history of difficulty with a team does stand as a challenge this year's group needs to face.

Speaking of history looming over a current season, this playoff scenario is very familiar to anyone around last year--and the memories aren't all that great. Tufts' 2002 season culminated with twenty wins and the team went charging into the Quarterfinals to face Amherst, only to lose 3-1.

The circumstances were a bit different -- Amherst was the dominant team at third place in the division, while Tufts held sixth. The sting of that loss, however, could add extra motivation for vindication in a second chance that is rarely given in sports.

This history however, is secondary to this year's team.

"Every time you compete it is a different match and every year it is a new team," Thompson said. "We don't really keep track of what has happened in previous seasons."

This season, the current Jumbo squad was unable to put Amherst away when they had the chance during the regular season in a home NESCAC conference game. Midway through October, the pesky crew from northern Mass. put an end to Tufts' seven game winning streak with a 3-1 victory (30-26, 24-30, 30-23, 30-22).

Up until that point in the season, Tufts had been at the top of its game in terms of focus and intensity. The loss displayed a flatter, shaken Brown and Blue squad, marked by an increase in service (6) and serve receive (8) errors.

"When we played Amherst here at home, we played terribly. It was by far our worst game of the year," Thompson said.

After the match, the lapse of intensity on the court was and still is a struggle for the Jumbos. The team dropped closely matched games to the likes of Bates (1-3) and Wellesley (2-3)--crews it had defeated earlier in the season--as well as losing matches it definitely had the talent advantage over, such as Smith.

"We have to keep the end of the season in perspective. We faced some difficult teams, which is what I wanted us to do this year, knowing we would take some hits in the form of losses because of it," Thompson said.

That is not to say that this team has become weak. For every loss during the last three weeks of the season, there has also been a win, including an impressive victory over Brandeis (3-2) that directly followed the Amherst loss. At that point, Brandeis had been ranked the number four team in the region.

This all translates into the fact that the Jumbos beat themselves in the regular season Amherst game, rather than the Jeffs being an unreachable competitor. In fact, the Jeffs have shown weaknesses in their last few matches, including four straight losses to Williams, MIT, Bates, and Colby. They have fallen from second place in the conference to fourth, setting the stage for Friday's match.

Tufts has the talent to beat Amherst and push into Saturday's semi-final match.

"What is most important for us is to not think about the other times and just come at this game like any other," senior tri-captain Danielle Cafasso said. "I definitely think we can beat Amherst."

In order for that to happen, the defense will need to find a way to stop the Jeffs' outside hitting duo of junior Nicole Davidson and freshman Kristin Quinn, who had 17 and 16 kills apiece in the regular season battle. The Jeffs also boast a strong middle attack. The defense and specifically the block have been working hard this week to be at peak form.

"We have been focusing on the block because the defense sets up around that," Cafasso said. "If the block is on, then the defense and the passing will follow."

Overall, however, it will be whichever team decides to show up today that advances.

"[Amherst] is a fighting team and they have tons of attitude," Thompson said. "They aren't going to want to be knocked out of the first round and neither do we. It is going to be quite a battle and I am looking forward to it."

If Tufts moves into the semi-finals, barring any upsets, the road will be even more difficult as they will most likely face undefeated Williams. Williams is probably the only team in the NESCAC top five (including Bates, Colby, Amherst, and Tufts), that outshines any other in terms of talent (including two monster hitters and overall talents in junior OH Robin Young and freshman MH Joyia Chadwick)--and therefore any team that faces them will have to really dig deep to find the win.