Former volleyball co-captain and 2005 Tufts graduate Emily Macy made her first trip back to Cousens Gymnasium on Tuesday night since receiving her diploma in May. But she found herself in some unfamiliar territory as she made her way into the gym: on the opposing bench.
"It was really weird at first, walking into the gym again, especially as an opponent," Macy said. "But it was very exciting to see all of my former teammates and to see how the program is continuing its success and driving to be one of the top teams in the country."
"It was very weird seeing her walk into the gym wearing Camel colors," Coach Cora Thompson, who coached Macy for four years at Tufts, said. "But once the game started we all got down to business."
The former co-captain is now a graduate assistant coach at NESCAC rival Connecticut College, splitting her time as a post-baccalaureate student at the school and coaching volleyball.
"It was a little weird to see her on the other side of the net because it's such a different role," junior Dana Fleisher said. "I'm just so used to playing with her on the same side of the court, but it was fun to play against her because she's so competitive. It was like a little rivalry."
The fans certainly had a good time heckling the former Jumbo. Several of her friends, both graduates and current students, were in attendance, giving Coach Macy a hard time on the opposing bench, to which she couldn't help but crack an occasional smile.
"The fans definitely succeeded in making her pretty uncomfortable," Fleisher said.
The Jumbos had a little fun with their former star as well. The squad taped Macy's jersey No. 7 on the back of all of their warm-up jerseys and "retired" the jerseys of its two other 2005 graduates, but not Macy's. In more serious pregame introductions, however, the announcer took special note to introduce the assistant coach as "2005 Tufts graduate and former volleyball senior co-captain Emily Macy," almost bringing her to tears as the crowd erupted into applause.
The Jumbos were already pumped up for the match because Connecticut College is a NESCAC opponent, but having Macy on the other side of the net certainly gave them an extra push to get the win.
"She's so competitive so we knew she would want to beat us really badly," Fleisher said. "It just made us want to win more."
After the game, the two teams lined up at the net and the Tufts players got to salute their former teammate.
"They all slapped hands with me and said, 'Good game, coach,'" Macy said. "They know that I hate being called 'coach.'"
"I congratulated her at the end of the game for her hard work," Thompson added. "Connecticut College has drastically improved defensively because of Emily, and I can really see that she's putting her all into that team and making a big difference."
Macy, whose contract with the college expires in May of next year, splits her coaching time between helping to run practice and recruiting players.
"I'm really happy doing this right now," Macy said. "But I'm also very glad it's only for a year. I certainly don't want to coach forever, so I'm kind of getting it out of my system now."
"We have to remember that this is the first fall in 18 years that she's not [playing] on the volleyball court," Thompson said. "She's always used to motivating her teammates with her hustle on the court, so it has to be hard for her to not be playing but motivating with her words from the sideline."
