With a 5-0 record and a victory over four-time defending conference champion Williams under its belt, the Tufts volleyball team felt good about its chances in its NESCAC openers against Colby and Bates this past weekend.
However, the Jumbos were hit hard by a surprisingly solid Colby team on Friday, losing three games to the Mules before recovering with a win over Bates on Saturday. Plagued by simple passing and service mistakes, Tufts fell 30-21, 30-25, and 30-25 and Colby emerged on its home floor as the top team in the NESCAC.
"Colby's a strong team," coach Cora Thompson said. "They're undefeated in New England. They definitely played well. They were the first team that really pressured us and I think we lost our composure a little bit."
The Jumbos gave credit to a strong Colby team that utilized a tall middle block. However, both players and coach felt that the blame for the loss belonged on the Tufts side of the net.
Seven different Jumbos made service errors, including junior Kelli Harrison who, despite leading the team with 12 kills and three aces, had three faults of her own.
The story was not much better for the Jumbo front line, as the Mules edged them in blocks nine to three.
"We need to speed up our offense and serve and pass better," Thompson said.
While not completely denying the possibility of a letdown as a result of the team's 5-0 start and emotional win over Williams, Thompson pointed to fundamental mistakes as a recurring theme that has held the young Jumbos back.
"[A letdown] is certainly possible, but honestly Williams is not the team they used to be," Thompson said. "We made a lot of mistakes against Williams too."
Thus far, the Jumbos have been able to get by less talented teams despite the mistakes. Colby, Tufts' most formidable test so far, capitalized on the squad's errors.
"They just played really well," sophomore Kay Lutostanski said. "I guess we were kind of surprised. We're such a young team and they were our first big obstacle."
Just as they had in the preceding matches, freshmen played a big role for the Jumbos in the Colby match. As Thompson continues to tweak the lineup in search of the optimal combination, four freshmen saw court time against the Mules.
With the Colby loss fresh on their minds, the Jumbos rebounded quickly to defeat Bates 3-0 on Saturday, ending the weekend on a more positive note. Coming off the sloppy loss to Colby, the Jumbos were able to play a much cleaner match against the Bobcats.
"Colby was a wake-up call," Thompson said. "We cut down on our mistakes a lot more against Bates."
The win marked the team's second of the season over the Bobcats, compounding the Jumbos' 3-0 win during the Williams Invitational. This one left the squad feeling a little better about the events of the weekend.
"Bates is a weaker team, but we played a lot better [than we had the night before]," senior co-captain April Gerry said.
Harrison once again led the team in kills with 14 in 23 attempts. Although they played much smoother volleyball, the Jumbos still committed 12 service errors in the match.
Despite the Colby speed bump, the Jumbos are not panicking yet. With a young team and plenty of volleyball left, the players are confident about the rest of the season.
"We're a very young team and this is only the beginning of the season," Lutostanski said. "We're coming together as a team."
According to Thompson, while the loss was regrettable, its impact on her team's chances for a NESCAC title is still unknown.
"I think that it's too early to tell [the significance of this loss]," Thompson said. "It affects possible seeding for the NESCAC Tournament, but we're still 1-1 in the conference, and it's still very possible that we could come out of this season 9-1."
For a young team, learning lessons, this early-season loss doesn't have to be a negative.
"Colby was a good wake-up call," Gerry said. "It takes a little pressure off of us and shows us what we're working for."
The Jumbos will take on Gordon tonight on the Fighting Scots' home court. The match will be the Jumbos' last before this weekend's MIT Tournament.
"The goal for tonight's game is to cut down on mistakes from our end of the floor," Thompson said.
