Throughout the season, coach Cora Thompson claimed that the 2005 Tufts volleyball team was the most talented in Tufts history. After a record 29 victories and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals, Thompson's squad backed her up.
After tying the school record for most victories by a Tufts team last year, the Jumbos went on to break that record this year with 29 wins, and its two victories in the NCAA Tournament put them farther into the tournament than a Tufts team has ever gone.
"All in all, it was an incredible season and it was something we're all really proud of," sophomore Stephanie Viola said.
The team finished 29-7 and second in the conference and the region. The only thing that separated the Jumbos from a NESCAC and regional title was their inability to beat Colby, which claimed both crowns. The White Mules defeated the Jumbos three times this season without dropping a single game. After beating the Jumbos in the NESCAC opener and in the conference championship, the Mules finally ended Tufts' season this past weekend.
"It was a tough thing to swallow," Viola said. "They were a tough team. However, they have five starting seniors, so hopefully we'll be able to take it to them next year. That's something to look forward to."
Although the Jumbos could not beat Colby, they had success in NESCAC, going 9-1 en route to a second-place finish for the second consecutive year. The Jumbos beat Amherst twice, including a NESCAC Tournament opener that sent the Lord Jeffs home for the winter.
The Jumbos returned from Colby proud of what they had accomplished this season. The road to 29 victories was not easy, as the Jumbos defeated two top-25 teams on the way.
In the first weekend of the season, the team traveled to the Williams Invitational and knocked off the host Ephs, who entered the match ranked No. 19 in the nation. The 3-1 victory over Williams was the first of three Jumbo victories this season over Williams, which had won the last four NESCAC Championships and had beaten Tufts every time the two met since Sept. 2001.
Later in the season, the Jumbos hosted the second annual Tufts Invitational. Thompson used the tournament as an opportunity to schedule some tough matches for her team, and the Jumbos responded.
Tufts opened up the tournament by defeating Emmanuel, a task they would repeat in the NCAA Tournament. Next, the Jumbos knocked off then-No. 22 SUNY-Cortland and MIT, the top team in the region. The Jumbos came close to winning their tournament for the second year in a row, but came up just short of then-No. 23 Eastern in a match that went to five games.
"That was a great showing by us and it just proved that we are one of the top teams in the nation and we're only going to be better next year," Viola said.
The Jumbos took their act on the road, traveling down to Georgia to play the Emory National Invitational Tournament, becoming the first Tufts volleyball team to travel to a tournament out of the region.
The Jumbos were the lone representative from New England at Emory, and started out the tournament by beating Meredith and Heidelberg. They could not carry the momentum, however, losing to Millikin, a team receiving votes for the top-25 polls, and No. 3 Emory.
Tufts entered the season with a lot of youth and not much experience. With just two seniors and two juniors on the roster, freshmen were forced into key roles.
Freshman Kaitlin O'Reilly held the setter position all year. Leading the NESCAC in assists, with 11.87 a game, she was named New England Freshman of the Year and earned a sport on the New England All-Region Team.
Freshman Natalie Goldstein had a stranglehold on the libero position throughout the season. Goldstein finished third in the conference in digs per game and received an honorable mention for New England Freshman of the Year.
Freshmen Caitlin Dealy and Maya Ripecky also played big roles as the season went on.
"They were great," Viola said of the team's rookies. "They had no problem stepping up and playing college sports. It was either be timid or step up, and they definitely stepped up and helped the team."
While the freshmen played a big role, they were led by a pair of seniors, co-captains Courtney Evans and April Gerry, who both earned spots on the All-NESCAC Team. Evans finished the season second in blocks per game in the conference, and Gerry finished eighth in the conference in hit percentage.
Another upperclassman, junior Kelli Harrison, had a rough year. While Harrison averaged 4.46 kills per game, a number that would have put her second in the conference, injuries limited her to just 56 games. Harrison suffered a thigh injury in a collision during the fifth game of the Coast Guard match in the MIT Tournament, and later in the season, sustained a concussion in practice which forced her to miss the last three weeks of the season.
In the wake of her final season with the team, Evans is optimistic about the future of the program she is leaving behind.
"I know they're going to keep improving," Evans said. "There's so much talent on this team and coach Thompson has been working so hard to build prestige. Next year, they're going to be even better."
