The Tufts volleyball team made it three in a row against Gordon on Tuesday, traveling to Wenham, Mass. and trumping the Fighting Scots for the third time in as many years, 3-0. The non-conference win upped the Jumbos' record to 7-1 on the season (1-1, NESCAC).
"As a team we were more consistent in terms of our energy today than in previous games," senior co-captain Courtney Evans said. "We didn't let Gordon go on long runs or get down on ourselves. And we bounced back from mistakes really well."
Junior outside hitter Kelli Harrison led the Jumbo offensive attack with 13 kills, while sophomore Katie Wysham, freshman Maya Ripecky, and senior co-captain April Gerry each contributed four kills. Sophomore libero Stephanie Viola spearheaded the defensive charge with ten digs, with Ripecky and Harrison each chipping in seven. Freshman setter Kaitlin O'Reilly led the passing attack for Tufts, putting forth 37 assists, and Ripecky led the team with four service aces.
Coming off its 1-1 showing in its first look at NESCAC action this past weekend, the Jumbos started off a bit shaky against the Scots, struggling through unforced errors that kept the game close.
"I think we gave [Gordon] about 17 points on missed serves and hitting errors," Evans said.
Tufts held strong, however, and took the game 30-26. The team was then able to sharpen its play for the final two games.
"Our goals for the [second] two games were just to cut down on our errors and we did that really well," Evans said. "In both of the last two games we only missed two serves, which is much less than in most of our previous games."
Playing more disciplined volleyball, the Jumbos were able to dominate, winning 30-14 and 30-19.
"Fixing our service game did a lot for our momentum," coach Cora Thompson said. "We stopped giving away points, and the rest of our play picked up dramatically as a result."
Because the game was non-conference, and didn't affect its NESCAC standing, Tufts took the opportunity to try various lineups and combinations for use against future NESCAC opponents.
"I think this was just a good game to have a lot of different lineups out on the court and still be able to play a consistently," Evans said. "We were able to take control over what was happening on our side of the court by minimizing errors and staying focused on the game."
The Jumbos will have a much tougher test this weekend when they co-host the MIT Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Tufts will face off against Muhlenberg at 4 p.m., followed by the Coast Guard Academy at 8 p.m. in Chase Gymnasium. Tufts will have to be at the top of its game if it wants to beat Coast Guard, one of just four teams to beat the Jumbos last year.
With a relatively young lineup, the team can only get better as the season progresses. Thompson rotates all of her six freshmen in regularly, with four of them playing crucial roles on the team.
"We are getting more used to playing with each other and trusting each other on the court," Evans said. "I'm really excited for this weekend's games - playing tougher teams will force us to step up our game and play really good volleyball."
