The volleyball team defended its lead in the NESCAC this weekend, toppling Hamilton and Williams and improving to 7-0 in conference play and 21-1 overall.
The Jumbos had already faced the reigning NESCAC champion Williams Ephs earlier this season when they beat them 3-0 in the Brandeis Invitational. This time, at Amherst, Williams proved to be a greater challenge for Tufts though the Jumbos still took the match 3-2.
The Jumbos started strong, winning the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-19, but they could not hold on to their lead, as the Ephs took the next two sets 25-19 and 26-24.
"We knew [Williams] would be improved -- that is to be expected," senior tri-captain Stacy Filocco said. "At this point in the season, everyone has gotten better."
"We got complacent after winning the first two games and thought we'd just do it again," sophomore Dawson Joyce-Mendive said. "We let our guard down and [Williams] came out fighting for it. Our passing also broke down a little."
Joyce-Mendive and Filocco led the Jumbos with 18 and 13 kills, respectively.
In the final set, the Jumbos left no doubt as to who deserves to hold first-place status in the conference, as they dominated, ultimately winning by a score of 15-9.
"We came onto the court with a lot of intensity," senior tri-captain Natalie Goldstein said. "We scared [the Ephs] by serving aggressively right away, and our intensity made them play down."
Goldstein, a regular defensive leader, contributed a team-high 18 digs in the effort.
Senior Maya Ripecky and Filocco added an additional 13 and 10 digs to the defense, while sophomore Cara Spieler notched 15 of her own. Junior setter Dena Feiger also came up with 12 digs in addition to her 49 assists.
Freshman Lexi Nicholas had another strong performance, recording six kills and five blocks.
"Williams and Amherst were both really big wins for us," Joyce-Mendive said. "We remember what it was like to lose to them just last year."
In their match on Friday, also played at Amherst, the Jumbos blew by the last-place Hamilton Continentals 25-12, 25-6, 25-10.
"It's always a challenge playing less talented teams because it's hard to keep up the intensity of the game," Goldstein said. "We just kept our own tempo and played great volleyball."
"We just came out and played our game," said Joyce-Mendive, who lead the team with six kills.
Nicholas also notched six kills, while Feiger had a big game in all respects, with 29 assists, nine digs and one block.
With the best record in New England and a slim lead in the NESCAC over the 7-1 Wesleyan team, the Jumbos refuse to think too much about the future -- even though the chance to win a regular-season title and host the conference tournament looks more promising every day.
"We cannot look ahead too far," Goldstein said. "We just need to focus on the next match first, not even on next weekend."
"[NESCACs are] on the back of our minds, but only as a long-term goal," Filocco said. "We are focusing on the short term, and we have three more NESCAC games to go that could go any way. Everyone is gunning for us right now."
Recent wins over Amherst and Williams are strong indicators of the team's current supremacy, as last year the Jumbos dropped their only match against Amherst and split their two matches against Williams.
"It is always nice to get a NESCAC win because the league is so tough," Filocco said. "It would be nice [to win the conference], but it is not our priority right now. Now our focus is Tuesday against Connecticut College."
The Jumbos have already beaten the Camels -- tomorrow night's opponent -- once this year by a score of 3-2 in the finals of the MIT Invitational; but it was Conn. College that ended Tufts' season last year in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament.
