After its most successful season in team history, which included a trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, the women's volleyball team took the court last weekend at the Buttermaker Tournament, hungry to repeat last year's success.
And after a 2-2 split at the event and Tuesday's 3-1 victory over Endicott, the Jumbos are well on their way.
"We played pretty well," assistant coach Marritt Cafarchia said. "We still have some kinks to work out, but we're pretty happy about [the game]."
Virtuoso performances by senior captain Kelli Harrison and a host of sophomores powered Tufts past Endicott.
Harrison and sophomore Stacy Filocco accumulated four aces each, and Filocco also contributed 16 kills. Sophomore Maya Ripecky had seventeen digs to go with three service aces of her own, and classmates Natalie Goldstein and returning NESCAC Rookie of the Year Kaitlin O'Reilly each had 14 digs.
The Jumbos leapt to an early advantage, winning the first two games comfortably, 30-22 and 30-24. Endicott stymied the Jumbos' momentum in the third, however, running away with a 30-13 win and putting the pressure squarely back on the other side of the net. The Jumbos responded in a tight fourth game, ultimately pulling out the win 31-29 to clinch the match.
"It was close the whole [fourth] game," Cafarchia said. "First we pulled ahead, and then they caught up, then we pulled ahead, and then they caught up, until we finally put them away."
The win followed a 2-2 weekend at the Buttermaker Tournament, held at Muhlenberg College over the weekend. The Jumbos opened up tournament play with a 3-2 loss to Penn State Altoona.
The game went to five games with the Cougars ultimately triumphing 15-9 in the fifth. Altoona's 3-2 (27-30, 30-22, 30-16, 30-32, 9-15) win helped spark the Jumbos into taking the next two matches.
"It was our first game all together for the new team and as always there are a lot of nerves," said Harrison, "It was a good loss in that it woke us up."
The Jumbos rebounded quickly, downing York College 3-0 to finish the first round with a 1-1 record in Pool C. After opening up a two-game advantage, the Jumbos lost the third game and then held on to capture a tough fourth game, 30-28. Strength down the stretch gave Tufts the victory needed to advance to the championship pool and to avoid starting the season with two consecutive losses.
All three teams finished even in the pool, but because the Jumbos had won the most games, they advanced to the championship bracket against Mary Washington. Tufts swept the Eagles 3-0, and the match showcased some of their best volleyball of the weekend in a straight 30-24, 30-12, 30-27 win.
"I think the key to the game is passing and serving and we definitely had the best moments of those in this match," Harrison said.
In Tufts' final match of the tournament, with a chance at the tournament championship on the line, the Jumbos fell to MIT in three straight games, 30-24, 30-12, 30-27.
The Engineers, while winning a decisive early-season match over a regional rival, will likely not have the last laugh. Tufts and MIT are two of the strongest volleyball programs in New England and will attend the other's tournament during the year.
The tournament's Pennsylvania location and Mid-Atlantic draw gave the Jumbos some national exposure early in the season.
"We had some really good opportunities to see some out-of-region teams before in-conference competition," Harrison said. "We used the opportunity to try some different line-ups and see what works and what doesn't work."
This weekend the Jumbos head to Amherst College for their first NESCAC Weekend of the year. Tufts will play Wesleyan today and Trinity tomorrow.
