The volleyball team's regular-season NESCAC title hopes hit a speed bump this past weekend in a dramatic 3-2 loss to Amherst. It slowed them, but did not stop them, as the Jumbos recovered with a 3-0 victory over Middlebury.
The damage, however, was already done. The 1-1 weekend put the Jumbos at 14-5 overall and 2-2 in the NESCAC, tied for sixth pace.
The loss to Amherst hurt Tufts' hope of securing a high seed in the NESCAC tournament. Tufts entered the weekend tied with Amherst in the league standings and now finds itself a game back as a result of an error-filled match.
While disappointing, Amherst's talent is far greater than its league record; the Lord Jeffs have amassed a 15-1 record on the year, while losing only nine individual games. The ability of the Jumbos to force the Lord Jeffs into a fifth game is a testament to Tufts' ability is to play on the level of the best teams in the NESCAC.
"I was impressed with our fight," coach Cora Thompson said. "I think this team has a lot of fight, but we are still searching for that consistent play from beginning to end. Unless we get our play consistent, great teams are going to take advantage of our lulls.
"[Amherst is] a good team until proven otherwise, but on our part we had 35 attack errors, 25 passing errors, 10 blocking violations and 5 mis-serves," Thompson continued. "If anything, there's a great sense of disappointment because we went out there as a great team in New England, but we went out there and we beat ourselves."
The loss was one of the Jumbos' most exciting matches of the season, similar in intensity to their victory over MIT on Sept. 30, in which Tufts outlasted the Engineers in a five-game match.
The Lord Jeffs leapt out to an early lead, winning the first two sets 30-21 and 30-26. The first game was all Amherst, but in the second game Tufts showed signs of life, tying the game multiple times until Amherst finally took the lead for good at 23-22.
The Jumbos refused to go down quietly. Using the momentum from their improved play in the second game, Tufts battled its way to a 30-24 victory in the third game. The Jumbos carried the intensity into the fourth game, translating their momentum into a 30-23 win.
At this point in the match all signs of momentum seemed to favor the surging Jumbos; however, in the climatic fifth game, Amherst never relinquished the lead, capitalizing on sloppy play from Tufts and winning decisively 15-5.
"There was definitely some success in the third and fourth game," senior co-captain Kelly Harrison said. "We were down in the third game, and we fought back, but it's disappointing when you can't carry all that through."
A fixture on statistical leaderboard for the Jumbos, Harrison led the way on both the offensive and defensive end, recording 23 kills and 23 digs. Junior Katie Wysham, who had 12 kills to go along with four blocks, followed her lead.
Defensively, sophomore defensive specialist Natalie Goldstein led the team with 31 digs, and sophomore Maya Ripecky contributed two services aces and 21 digs.
The Jumbos only had three aces on the day, but combined with five service errors, this was a large improvement from earlier in the season. Despite the progress in serving, Tufts was plagued by errors in almost all other aspects of the game, laying out the work that still needs to be done before the championship season.
Following the Amherst loss, the Jumbos took out their aggression on Middlebury. The Panthers fought hard, but Tufts was the superior team and won in straight games, 31-29, 30-24, and 30-21. The Jumbos swept, but the games were not without their drama. In the second game, Tufts was down 12-2 early before they righted the ship and turn the game into a 30-24 victory.
Harrison once again led her team, with two service aces and 17 kills. The Jumbos' serving improved even more than in the Amherst game, as they accumulated only two service errors throughout the entire match.
Defensively, Goldstein and Ripecky once again played integral roles in the team's success. Goldstein had 15 digs and Ripecky had 20 digs, while each also had a service ace. Setter Kaitlyn O'Reilly put in another stellar performance with 35 assists and 13 digs.
Although Tufts has a Tuesday match against Brandeis this week, matches against Bates and Colby loom in the distance. Although a NESCAC regular-season title is now highly unlikely for the Jumbos, all focus is turned to the NESCAC Tournament in November.
"Once you get to the NESCAC Tournament you can start all over. It's like a second chance, so that's when it really counts-in November," Harrison said.
