At the first-ever Tufts Invitational last season, the volleyball team upset M.I.T. to emerge from its first host tournament as champions. If the Jumbos want to make a tradition of winning their own invitational, they will have beat four of the top teams in the country.
The Jumbos will square off against Emmanuel, SUNY-Cortland, M.I.T. and Eastern University. Each team will present a tough match, as Emmanuel is a defending conference champion, Cortland and Eastern are top-25 teams nationally, and M.I.T. is the top team in New England.
Coach Cora Thompson, who scheduled the tournament and matched Tufts up against the top four teams in the tournament, is excited about the challenge.
"You need to play the best to be the best," Thompson said. "Even if you take a hit in your record, you have to play the best teams when you can."
The eight-team tournament, which will take place tonight and tomorrow afternoon, will be co-hosted by Tufts and M.I.T. Tufts helped co-host the M.I.T. Invitational last weekend.
The Jumbos will face M.I.T. at noon tomorrow. The Engineers, ranked number one in New England, are fresh off a win in their own tournament. At 15-3, M.I.T. has won its last ten matches.
"Obviously, we want to beat M.I.T. because they're the top team in New England, and we want to be that top team," Thompson said.
The 10-2 Jumbos, currently ranked fifth in the region, upset a higher ranked M.I.T. team twice last year. The victory in the final of last year's Tufts Invitational gave the Jumbos the tournament championship and launched the team on a 16-match winning streak.
If the team wants to repeat this year against M.I.T., it will have to contend with Engineer senior co-captain Arlis Reynolds, last week's M.I.T. Invitational Tournament MVP, as well as senior Caroline Jordan and senior co-captain setter Austin Zimmerman, both honorable mention All-Americans.
"[The key to beating M.I.T.] is the same as last year, maintaining our team unity and being confident, but not overconfident," sophomore Stephanie Viola said.
M.I.T. may not even be the toughest test of the weekend for the Jumbos. While the Engineers are a New England power, Tufts will face two national powers in Eastern University and Cortland.
Cortland, who the Jumbos will play tonight at 8 p.m., is currently ranked No. 22 nationally by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The Red Dragons, 17-2, suffered one of their defeats against No. 6 NYU.
Eastern, on the other hand, is ranked No. 23 in the country. If Tufts can upend Eastern tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the final of the tournament, it will be the first team in the country to do so, as Eastern is 12-0.
While Emmanuel does not boast a national ranking, the Saints still should give Tufts a tough match in the opener. The Saints are 10-3 and are the defending GNAC champions.
Despite the tough competition, Thompson sees the opportunity for some upsets.
"We have everything to gain, whereas some of these teams have everything to lose," Thompson said. "At this point, I think we're in a really good position going into this weekend."
The Jumbos' chances could be affected by health issues. While the team will be without sophomore Cecilia Allende, who is out for 4-6 weeks due to a broken finger sustained last weekend, junior Kelli Harrison could be close to returning from action after a scary leg injury that occurred in the fifth game of last Friday's Coast Guard match.
"[Harrison] is still to be announced," Thompson said. "We're not sure what's going to happen. She's looking good and looking strong, so we'll have to determine that [today]."
Even without Harrison, the Jumbos appear to be a confident team after playing well last weekend. The team is actually 2-0 in Harrison's absence, a tribute to the depth that Thompson has been emphasizing as one of her team's strengths.
"I think the goal is to pick up where we left off in terms of consistent play, serving and passing," Thompson said.
The Jumbos have the added bonus of playing the tournament on their home floor.
"It sort of increases our excitement and positivity," Viola said. "We're excited to be playing in front of our fans on our home court. It gives us that extra reinforcement that we need."
Thompson will use these tough matches as a tool to sharpen the team for the late-season matches that will be crucial for the team's NESCAC chances.
"We have the bigger picture in sight, not necessarily winning every game," Thompson said. "We really want to strengthen our team and our program."
Still, the competitive coach is not looking for her team to go out there and learn a lesson while going 0-4.
"The ultimate goal is to win," Thompson said. "We want to beat every team and beat them convincingly."
