Today marks a full month since the Tufts volleyball team last played a match on its home court, so it would be understandable if the team had grown a little homesick and travel-weary. Fortunately for the Jumbos, they are finally coming home. The NESCAC women's volleyball tournament will kick off tonight and, for the second year in a row, Tufts is playing host.
With an 8-2 NESCAC record (26-3 overall), the Jumbos earned the No. 1 seed in the conference and are slated to take on No. 8 Wesleyan at 5:00 pm today at Cousens Gym. The Jumbos will walk onto the court with confidence against the Cardinals (13-13, 4-6 NESCAC), whom they clipped 3-1 in their first home and NESCAC victory of the season back on Sept. 18.
A win in the NESCAC, however, is never a sure thing, as Tufts was reminded last Friday when the upset-minded Trinity Bantams outlasted it in a five-set thriller. The loss, only the Jumbos' third of the year, put them in a precarious situation: needing a win over Amherst on Saturday to keep pace with Williams and Conn. College atop the conference standings. As usual, the Jumbos responded, and their 3-1 win over the Lord Jeffs secured them the regular season title.
"Wesleyan is a very dangerous team for an eighth seed," senior co-captain Brogie Helgeson said. "Just because they are seeded eighth does not mean anything. We are focusing on our strategies on both offense and defense so we can take advantage of any of their weaknesses."
In Wesleyan, Tufts faces the third-ranked defense in the NESCAC, as well as the top digger in the league: junior Ruby Hernandez.
"[Wesleyan is] very quick, and they have outlasted teams defensively speaking, and they win a lot of long rallies, but so do we," Tufts coach Cora Thompson said. "We are going to need to stay composed and disciplined during long rallies … but our team is very good at staying within our system and staying disciplined."
If the Jumbos are to overcome the defense-minded Cardinals, it is likely going to be by means of their high-powered offense. The Jumbos ran away with the conference lead in kills and assists this season, totaling 1332 and 1199, respectively — the latter number thanks largely to senior co-captain and setter Dena Feiger's league-best 1059 assists.
"It's going to come down to our ability to control the ball and execute on our side," Feiger said. "It's going to be a good competition; we just need to stick to our game plan, and as long as it all comes together at the same, we time we should be able win."
An important point for the Jumbos to focus on will be controlling what they can — namely, their own play. In each of its three losses this season, Tufts has committed at least 23 errors, well above the team's season average of 16.5.
"We need to minimize our unforced errors and certainly push Wesleyan to earn all of their points against us," Thompson said.
"When teams play us, we have a huge target on our back," Feiger added. "So our job on our side is to minimize our errors — and that's part of our game plan."
Though the Jumbos were unable to replicate their perfect 10-0 conference mark from last year, their two conference losses this season, according to Helgeson, will only help to keep them grounded for the difficult run ahead.
"Last year we were very afraid to lose," she said. "This year we have a much more grounded team, and we are always playing to win."
If the Jumbos advance past tonight's first round, they may have a big hurdle to leap in tomorrow's semifinals before they can focus on Sunday's championship game. Awaiting the Jumbos in the second round will be the winner of the matchup between No. 5 seed Amherst and No. 4 Middlebury. The Jeffs and Panthers split their two meetings this year, so it is hard to tip either as the likely winner.
"Seeding doesn't matter in this tournament, because every NESCAC team is capable of big wins," Thompson said.
Amherst is coming off a tough finish to the season that included back-to-back losses to Bowdoin and Tufts. However, the Jeffs are riding a three-year streak of championship match appearances, including a conference title in 2006. The Panthers, on the other hand, capped off their season with two straight wins over Colby and Bates. More important, though, is the fact that it was Middlebury that put a stop to Tufts' 19-match winning streak and handed the Jumbos their first NESCAC loss of the season in a 3-1 upset on Oct. 16 — the only time the two squads have faced each other this year.
"Obviously Middlebury and Amherst are both great teams," Helgeson said. "We had a great game against Amherst last week, and we'd love to see them again, and against Middlebury we'd like to get revenge ... But we just take it one set and one point at a time."
"It's great to have another shot at other teams we played this year, but right now we're just looking to get past Wesleyan," Feiger added.
The other side of the bracket will pit No. 7 Bowdoin against No. 2 Williams and No. 6 Trinity against No. 3 Conn. College. The defending champion Ephs (18-8, 8-2 NESCAC) have won six out of the past nine NESCAC tournaments, but if they hope to make it seven for 10, they will likely have to get through Tufts or Conn. College — the only NESCAC teams to beat them this year — or possibly both.
As the Jumbos make their bid for their first NESCAC title since 1996, one major factor will undoubtedly be on their side: home-court advantage. Playing in the newly renovated Cousens Gym, Tufts was a perfect 10-0 this year. When that extra seventh player is on their side, the Jumbos have pulled off some big-time wins, like their 3-2 victory over UMass Boston in September and a sweep of the Tufts Invitational.
"It's always great to play on your home court, and we take a lot of pride in defending our home court," Feiger said. "This gym hasn't seen a loss yet, and hopefully it will stay that way."
Bringing the conference tournament back to the Hill was a big goal for the Jumbos all year. Now they are ready to achieve one more.
