What a difference a week makes.
Last weekend, the volleyball team succumbed to fatigue, losing its match in the third round of the MIT Invitational to Wellesley and relegating the Jumbos to playing for seventh place in the tournament.
This weekend, the Jumbos defeated that same Wellesley team in the third round of the first ever Tufts Invitational, clearing the way for a 4-0 weekend and a tournament championship.
"Last weekend, we came into the gym really tired from the night before, and not everybody played up to their potential," junior April Gerry said. "We knew we could beat them this time. We just had to prove it, and we did."
The Jumbos did not drop a single game to the Blue, starting off the match with a 30-25 victory.
In the second game, the Jumbos held a fragile 10-9 lead. Triggered by one of seven blocks by junior Courtney Evans and freshman Kay Lutostanski, the Jumbos went on an 8-1 run. The Blue could never come closer than four points down, as the Tufts won the game 30-22.
The team got off to a fast start in the third game, as sophomore Kelli Harrison's ace gave the Jumbos a 19-6 lead. They went on to win the game 30-16, clinching the match and avenging their 3-1 loss in the MIT Invitational.
Harrison recorded 13 kills and was aided by nine apiece from Evans and Lutostanski. Freshman Megan Tunstill, returning from a back injury, provided 40 assists.
Senior co-captain Emily Macy led the Jumbo defense with 18 digs in the victory.
"We were definitely ready to come back and show them who has the better team," Harrison said. "We really took care of business this weekend."
The victory over Wellesley put the Jumbos in the championship match against MIT, the second ranked team in New England.
The Jumbos were very familiar with MIT, having beaten them 3-1 on Sept. 15 on the road.
"We've seen them a lot," Gerry said. "We had a good scouting report on them, and there's a bit of a rivalry with them, even though they are not in our conference, because they are so close."
The Jumbos emerged victorious from the first two close games, by scores of 30-25 and 30-28, respectively.
With a chance to win the tournament championship, the Jumbos stumbled, losing the third game to the Engineers 30-21. They regained their momentum in the fourth game, winning 30-26 and clinching the tournament championship.
"We did a great job this weekend," Gerry said. "Since it was our tournament that we were hosting, we had a lot of pride and hoped to win. We had some ups and downs, but we did what it took to win."
Receiving sets from Tunstill and then senior Rebecca Schaevitz in the third game when Tunstill's back tightened up, Harrison recorded 24 kills in the match. Senior co-captain Ali Sauer aided her with 11 kills of her own. Macy led the team with 28 digs on defense.
"I was so impressed with [Schaevitz] coming off the bench and being physically and mentally ready," coach Cora Thompson said. "She came in there and led us to the W."
Thompson shuffled the lineup frequently, giving more time to Lutostanski at outside hitter to allow the team to utilize Macy's defensive abilities. Macy, along with Gerry, was named to the all-tournament team.
According to Thompson, the Jumbos used a different style of play to beat the Engineers this time around.
"We beat them in two different ways. The first time we bet them with our blocks. The second time, we beat them with good backcourt defense and some really smart hitting," Thompson said.
The team started off the tournament with a 3-0 defeat of Babson College. Schaevitz spread her 30 assists evenly as nine different players recorded kills.
While the team beat the Beavers 30-20, 30-11 and 30-12, the players were not completely satisfied with the effort.
"We beat Babson in three, and that was great, but we definitely could have been better," Harrison said. "We just got better as the weekend went on. We progressively raised our level of play and got better and better."
In the second round of the tournament, the Jumbos defeated Bridgewater State 3-1.
The first game of the match was tight, as the Jumbos won 33-31. After a 30-18 win to make it 2-0 in the match, Bridgewater State triumphed 30-26 in the third game. The Jumbos finished them off with a 30-22 win.
Schaevitz dished out 48 assists as Harrison, Evans and Gerry combined for 36 kills. Defensively, Evans recorded three solo blocks and nine assists. Macy and Harrison had 25 and 21 digs, respectively.
Although this was the first year of the Tufts Invitational Tournament and only six teams competed, Thompson expects the tournament to expand next year to eight or ten teams.
The Jumbos hope to be as successful in the tournament in future years as they were this year.
"It was absolutely amazing [to win] and really just a good storybook ending," Thompson said. "It couldn't have worked out better for us."
