The men's volleyball team put forth an intense effort this past weekend. The team's play was greatly improved despite losing two contests by scores of 2-0 to Boston College (BC) and MIT at the tournament, which was held at Dartmouth on Saturday.
The team did manage to win against UMass-Lowell in a 2-0 match.
Despite the 1-2 record, the team's play was greatly improved from a 0-3 outing a week ago, and the Jumbos are beginning to show potential for future success.
Although the team struggled in the North A Divisional match on Feb. 5, it was able to regain a better pace last Saturday. The improvements come just in time for the Interdivisional tournaments to be held at Yale this weekend.
According to senior co-captain Colin Pedersen, the players are becoming more unified and coordinating better on the court.
"We are a very deep team this year, but we have struggled to put it all together," Pedersen said. "This past weekend at Dartmouth the intensity was high, which is something we had been lacking the weekend before. If we keep up our concentration and get into a rhythm, the matches will go our way."
Ramon-Carlo Galicia, a graduate student at the Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, continued to stand out as a go-to player, making several successful hits. The rest of the team stepped up as well, but even with successful passes and sets, the Jumbos weren't able to pull off consecutive wins.
"Everybody has moments of brilliance," Pedersen said. "But we need to get everyone playing on the same page."
The three matches that the Jumbos played on Saturday may not have all ended in victory, but they certainly showed the growing strength of the team. Playing against UMass-Lowell resulted in an easy 2-0 win for the Jumbos, but when it came to two stronger teams, Boston College and MIT, they fell short.
Against BC, the team was clearly outmatched, and was never really in either game. In the MIT games however, Tufts often held the lead late in the game before falling apart in the end.
The team's main problem continues to be a lack of overall cohesiveness, which should improve as the Jumbos continue to practice three times a week.
The team is looking forward to the Yale Interdivisionals on Sunday, Feb. 20. The tournament is especially important for the team, as the results will ultimately determine whether or not the team will advance to the New England Championships, held in April.
When the Jumbos venture down to New Haven, Connecticut it will be important for them to have success in all aspects of play, and not focus on only the sets or passes individually.
This season, the team has played well when it has jumped out in the beginnings of games to a comfortable lead, but has struggled when it has had to play from behind, which has been more often than not.
In the fall though, this trend was not the case, as the team overcame deficits to win several tournaments.
For instance, in November, the team won a preseason tournament at UMass-Lowell in late November where it defeated Amherst, Stonehill and finally the hosting UMass-Lowell in the title game.
The team is only now recovering from the months away from the court.
Senior co-captain Mike Toomey described the effects of the layoff, which hit the team hard in its first tournament back on Feb. 5th.
"[We] had a complete meltdown against the strongest teams in the league."
And while this past weekend's 1-2 effort may be only marginally better, the improvement represents steps in the right direction that will only continue as the team practices and plays more together and develops more consistency.
For now, the team is focused on and anticipating the tournament at Yale. The Interdivisional could serve as a springboard for the team, and may be just what the Jumbos need to catapult into a berth for the New England Championships.
