All season, Tufts has found itself looking up to Colby in the regional and conference standings. If the Jumbos and White Mules can hold their seeds in this weekend's NESCAC Tournament, coach Cora Thompson's squad could find itself looking those Mules straight in the eyes with a conference championship on the line.
The Jumbos enter this year's NESCAC Tournament with a 9-1 conference record and the number two seed in the tournament, trailing only Colby, whose spotless conference record propelled it to the number one seed. Only an early season head-to-head Mules victory separates the team in the standings.
"We haven't seen Colby since that last encounter," freshman Maya Ripecky said of the Jumbos' 30-21, 30-25, 30-25 loss on Sept. 16. "We've been waiting the whole season to get another chance."
For the Jumbos to even have a chance at playing Colby, they will have to go through two NESCAC opponents, starting with a date tonight with Amherst.
The Jeffs enter the tournament as the seventh seed, but they are not a typical low seed. The Jeffs were one of five NESCAC teams to end the season at 6-4 in a tie for third place in the conference. The NESCAC applied a series of tie-breakers including head-to-head record, conference wins, record against the top four teams, record against the top eight and record against teams in rank order. None of these tiebreakers yielded a winner, so the NESCAC resorted to its final tiebreaker: a random drawing.
The NESCAC drew names from a hat and when the lottery was completed, Amherst was left with the seventh seed and a match against Tufts.
"Quite honestly, I think [the lottery] is ridiculous," coach Cora Thompson said. "For a tiebreaker they should go to point spread. There needs to be a better way. Points are being completely overlooked and I'm not sure why."
According to Thompson, the NESCAC will look into using that as a tiebreaker after the season.
The match will be a rematch of the Oct. 15 regular season match between the two. The Jumbos won that one by a 3-1 score to extend their win streak over Amherst to three matches.
"We know it's definitely not going to be easy," Ripecky said. "They're a good team and last time they took us to four [games]. We just have to work hard, stay in control and play basic volleyball against them."
Like the Jumbos, Amherst boasts a young roster, barely edging Tufts with five upperclassmen to Tufts' four. Both teams are led by freshman setters.
The Jeffs have suffered some growing pains with freshman Sara Heller trying to fill the void left by graduated three-year All-NESCAC Team member Annie Hoeksma. The team has followed up its 23-7 record from last year by sinking to 17-10.
On the other side, freshman setter Kaitlin O'Reilly has fueled the Tufts offense. She leads the NESCAC with 11.6 assists per game and was named NESCAC Player of the Week earlier in the season.
O'Reilly will likely be setting the ball to junior Dana Fleisher on the outside. With junior Kelli Harrison out with a concussion, Thompson has been rotating her outside hitters, playing them by match-up. According to Thompson, Fleisher has always been successful against Amherst.
In the team's previous matchup with the Jeffs, Fleisher replaced the newly injured Harrison and collected 18 kills and 19 digs to pace the Jumbos. Last year, Fleisher helped the Jumbos break a 12-game losing streak against the Jeffs, entering in the third game of the match with Tufts in a 0-2 hole and collecting nine kills to lead the Jumbos all the way back.
If the Jumbos can eliminate the Jeffs from the tournament, as they did in last year's semifinals, they will move on to play the winner of Middlebury and Trinity, two teams who were included in the lottery with Amherst.
In a quirk created by the lottery system, the third-seeded Panthers could be the underdog against the sixth-seeded Bantams. Trinity, at 16-10, holds a better record than the 15-11 Panthers. The Bantams beat the Panthers on Sept. 17 by a 3-1 score, but the two teams enter the tournament heading in opposite directions with the Panthers having won their final two conference matches and the Bantams having lost theirs.
The Jumbos were one of the two teams to send the Bantams to defeat last weekend with a 3-0 win. Tufts also beat Middlebury during homecoming weekend, again 3-0. To get a chance to play either of these teams again, however, the Jumbos will have to beat Amherst.
"If there's one thing I could emphasize though, it's that we must take it one game at a time," Thompson said. "The playoffs are very different than the regular season. Teams are fighting for their lives."
If the Jumbos can send their first two opponents home, it could set them up for a NESCAC Championship match with Colby. The Mules, at 31-3, have not lost a NESCAC match this season and have been perched atop the New England standings most of the year. By winning out, the Mules earned the right to host the tournament.
"We're O.K. with [losing home court advantage to Colby]," Thompson said. "We play very well on the road. Right now the team is fired up in terms of being NESCAC Champions. That's a realistic goal."
Last time the two met on Colby's home floor, things did not go well for Tufts. Colby beat the Jumbos 3-0 to start off the NESCAC season with a win.
"We went into the Colby match a little bit cocky," O'Reilly admitted. "We didn't think they'd be as good as they were. This time, we have to be a lot more cautious and a lot less overconfident."
Last time, the squad was one week removed from knocking off Williams, winners of the last four NESCAC Championships. After that win, many of the Jumbos thought Williams' demise as a dynasty could open the door for a Tufts championship. Colby reminded them, however, that the title is up for grabs and they will have to work for it.
The Mules boast five seniors on the roster and have one of the best players in the region in senior Cait Cleaver.
"We've got nothing to lose," Thompson said. "Colby's the one with their back to the wall. They've got the perfect conference record. We can just stay loose out there."
The Jumbos' composure, as well as their talent, gives them their best shot in the NESCAC Tournament and at an NCAA Div. III Championship Tournament bid in years.
"Everyone is really excited," O'Reilly said. "Everyone knows this is it. It's all or nothing. There's no excuse not to play our best because if we don't, our season's over."
