You would think that after exacting revenge on both Williams and UMass Boston earlier in the week the Tufts' volleyball team would be out of scores to settle. Unfortunately for their next four adversaries, that was not the case.
Starting Friday, the Jumbos swept through the sixth annual Tufts Invitational at Cousens Gymnasium, dropping just one set over four matches en route to reclaiming the title at their home tournament.
"To win our own tournament and take that title back is always awesome," senior co-captain Dena Feiger said. "Those were some of the best teams we've seen so far, so we had to step up our game to beat them."
With the 12-1 set record they accumulated over their four matches, the Jumbos were able to edge out MIT for the tournament title even though the teams never played head-to-head. While Tufts invited some tough out-of-region teams to put them to the test, the Jumbos seemed to make easy work of their competition.
In their final match Saturday afternoon, the Jumbos clipped the Keene State Owls in straight sets, earning their 10th shutout of the season and extending their winning streak to 16 matches, tying a program record set in 2004. After falling behind early on in the first set, coach Cora Thompson used a timeout to regroup her squad and send them back onto the court with purpose. The break seemed to work, as the Jumbos quickly turned around and took the set 25-21 despite a valiant fight from the Owls. From then on, things only seemed to get easier, as Tufts rolled through the next two sets 25-13 and 25-12, including a nine-point run to lead off the third set.
Feiger, the tournament MVP, set up the offense with 34 assists as junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive and senior co-captain Brogie Helgeson led the attack with 16 and 11 kills, respectively. Sophomore Audrey Kuan was on her usual form as the team's defensive anchor, racking up 12 digs on the match.
In its first match of the day, which was also a sweep, things went even more smoothly as Tufts crushed Potsdam State 25-14, 25-9, 25-10. The Jumbos never gave the Bears a chance, not once surrendering a lead. Leading the onslaught with 10 kills was junior Caitlin Updike, whose 46 kills over the course of the weekend earned her All-Tournament honors.
While starting setter Feiger took the opportunity to get some rest, freshman Kendall Lord impressed in her debut start, proving that the Jumbos need not worry who will be running the offense next year. She posted 26 assists and, perhaps more notably, was efficient attacking herself with six kills and no errors on eight tries.
"Having games like this gives us confidence and a picture of where we stand in the region," Helgeson said.
Friday evening produced the only scare of the weekend for the Jumbos when Hiram handed them a first-set loss by eking out a back-and-forth 27-25 win with a key block by senior Randa Jackson and freshman Ariel Pund.
After the difficult start, it looked like Tufts was back in business when it jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the next frame and built that margin to 14-4. But the Terriers proved scrappier than expected, rallying to capture the next nine points and pull to within one. Finally, an Updike kill put a stop to the bleeding and the Jumbos went on to take the set 25-22. The strike was one of the junior hitter's team-leading 17 during the match.
A much smoother third set saw the Jumbos take a 25-19 win as Joyce-Mendive landed three of her 11 kills on the match. But just when it looked like Tufts finally had the Terriers on the leash, Hiram proved once more that it had some fight left, taking a 9-3 lead to start the set. It was not enough to halt the Jumbos' momentum, though, and Tufts clawed its way back to finish off the match with another 25-19 win.
"After playing a weaker team [earlier in the day], it's hard to get pumped up for a harder match," Helgeson said.
The Jumbos committed an uncharacteristically high 29 errors, though they say that fatigue was not a factor.
"We don't see [the season] as a test so much as a continued project of getting better and better every match," Thompson said. "It's a marathon, not a sprint.
"We want to be challenged by the best teams we can be," she continued. "The way we make our schedule, we want to play the toughest teams so there aren't any lulls or peaks and valleys in our season."
In their opening match of the tournament, the Jumbos were looking for a little vengeance against Union, a theme as of late. The last time these two teams faced each other was in the 2008 Tufts Invitational, when the Dutchwomen handed the Jumbos their first loss of the season, ending a 15-match winning streak. That loss was also the last time the Jumbos dropped a regular-season match at home. With that in mind, Tufts looked to settle the score.
"[Last year] was on our minds, but the Union we saw [Saturday] was a lot weaker than the team we saw last year," Helgeson said.
Paced by Updike and sophomore Lexi Nicholas with 11 kills apiece, Tufts swept Union 25-23, 25-15, 25-14 to close the book on the rivalry, at least for now.
"Revenge is sweet," said Feiger, who posted 32 assists and 10 digs in the victory. "Beating Union was so awesome. A lot of us were still feeling we had to beat them after last year's loss."
With their second tournament championship in as many weekends in the books, the Jumbos can now turn their attention to the incredibly demanding conference schedule that lies ahead of them. Starting with a match on Wednesday against Bowdoin, Tufts is slated to face six straight NESCAC opponents in 11 days. And with the exception of Wednesday's contest, the Jumbos will spend the remainder of the season on the road, returning to Cousens Gym only if it is to host the NESCAC Tournament or NCAA Regionals for the second year in a row.
"We've been getting ready the entire season and we finally have all our NESCAC competition coming up all in a row," Feiger said. "We're confident and ready to face any opponent."
