The volleyball team ended its regular season on a strong note by winning the Judges Classic at Brandeis this weekend. And in Saturday afternoon's final, the Jumbos throttled a team that had beaten them earlier in the season — the No. 2 team in New England, UMass Boston.
The Jumbos lost to the Beacons on Sept. 28 in straight sets on the road. But this Saturday, when playing on a neutral floor, Tufts dominated, taking the match 25−16, 25−11, 25−22.
"We came out ready to play on Saturday," senior quad−captain Nancy Shrodes said. "We had a lack of focus when we played them the first time, but now we're gelling as a team. We had solid passing and adjusted our block to their hitting. We showed them Tufts volleyball."
The Jumbos offense was in tune against the Beacons, hitting at a .307 percentage. Two Jumbos — senior quad−captain Caitlin Updike and junior Cara Spieler — reached double digits in kills. On defense, junior Audrey Kuan, who is also an online editor for the Daily, led the team with 13 digs.
"We were very balanced in the game," Updike said. "It was fun to play so well. No one player was more influential than any other. We really did this as a team."
The lone set Tufts dropped in its three games at the tournament came Friday night against Clarkson, when it lost the third set 25−23. But in Saturday's semifinals and finals, the team went 6−0 in sets — a hot streak that it hopes to continue in this weekend's NESCAC Tournament.
"It was huge for us," Shrodes said. "It sends the message to New England that we've figured things out."
The team on Monday took a break from practice in order to rest up for what will be an intense week that culminates in the NESCAC Tournament hosted by Amherst. Updike especially needs the rest, as she is still struggling with swelling in her left ankle due to an injury she suffered three weeks ago at Middlebury.
"This weekend I struggled a bit on Saturday with swelling, but I'm just trying not to think about it," Updike said. "It's something that won't completely heal until I don't play for a while, but I'm so excited to play this weekend."
Tufts is the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and will face NESCAC No. 5 Conn. College on Friday afternoon in the first round. The Jumbos crushed the Camels in straight sets in the one previous meeting between the two teams this season, but Conn. College has an ace in the hole — junior Amy Newman, who leads the rest of the conference by leaps and bounds in kills per set this year. Tufts will work on its blocking in practice this week to deal with the league's biggest offensive threat, as well as some other tough hitters like Amherst's senior duo of Jackie Berkley and Laura Hyman, who are No. 1 and No. 2 in individual NESCAC hit percentage, respectively.
"A lot of NESCAC teams have talented hitting and our block is our first line of defense," Updike said. "Of course, we'll also be working on serve−receiving and serving, which is always important."
Tufts will need to run the table in the conference tournament — something they have not done since 1996 — to make the NCAA Tournament as an automatic bid. But after beating UMass Boston — a team that finished just outside the top 25 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association national rankings — this weekend, the Jumbos like their chances to advance.
"The [Camels will] have their big hitter back and it should be a more competitive match this time around," Shrodes said. "It's the NESCAC Tournament, so everyone will be fighting hard. But I know that we can and we will do well."
