Ski team
The Tufts Alpine Ski Team continued its streak of strong performances this past weekend at Bromley Mountain in Vermont. The women moved into a tie for first place in the Thompson Division standings with a first-place team finish in the slalom (SL) competition and a second-place finish in the giant slalom (GS), while the men held on to their third-place slot with a third in the SL and a fourth in the GS.
"We're shooting for second," junior men's captain Jack Kramarczyk said. "But we were happy this weekend to maintain the third place position."
The men had three top-15 finishers in the GS, with senior John Johnson in the 11th position, senior Nate Soles in 13th, and Kramarczyk in at 14. Senior Matt Dreier, usually a high finisher, fell during his first run. Kramarczyk and Soles were also able to seize top 15 slots in the SL, coming in 13th and 14th, respectively. Johnson took a fall and was unable to finish his second run in the SL.
"We succeed in being a competitive team," Kramarczyk said. "However, our main goal is just to be out there skiing some runs and having a good time. We have a lot of skiers who are just starting to get their first real experiences in racing this year."
The women proved to be worthy competition on the slopes as well, grabbing four top-15 positions in both the SL and GS. Juniors Erin Boucher (fourth in SL, ninth in GS ) and Lindsay Melton (ninth in SL, 15th in GS) and freshman Sophie Dabuzhsky (11th in SL, fifth in GS) were able to take top-15 finishes in both events. Junior captain Kate Meierdiercks was able to seize sixth place in the GS, and freshman Courtney Benson placed seventh in the SL.
For the girls, the success has come from the high quantity of quality racers. The team has several members who can score the points needed to win.
"The [women's] squad is real deep," coach Paul Wang said. "The underclassmen have really pulled through. When one persons falls, others are there to fill in."
The team has pushed itself this season, and the fruits of its labor have been solid finishes.
"We are the most consistent squad," Wang asserted. "We have no real superstars who win all the time, but our racers ski consistently well."
The strongest competition in the field comes from Green Mountain College (GMC), which as a team finished sixth in the SL and first in the GS. However, as the women have shown, they are not unbeatable.
"The GMC women haven't been skiing as consistently," Wang said. "They have three skiers who are able to take first, second, and third all the time, but if one of them falters the competition closes in."
The men performed solidly and have shown steady improvement, despite the fact that key racer Mike Goldberg has gone abroad for the year.
Both the men and women both have high hopes for their last regular season races at Mt. Snow/Haystack this coming weekend.
Men's volleyball finishes third in MIT tournament
With a good mix of senior leadership and promising new players, the Tufts men's volleyball team is looking forward to a strong season. Despite its club status here at Tufts, the team is in the East division of the New England Collegiate Volleyball League (NECVL), in the company of varsity teams such as MIT, Boston University, and Boston College.On Jan. 28th, the Jumbos proved that they can play amongst the best, finishing third out of 25 teams at the league open tournament at MIT.
"I think we did pretty well," senior captain Adam Goldfarb said. "The tournament was very competitive and all the games were within a couple of points. The results really could've been different."
The team played a total of 11 games during the tournament. In the open pools to determine seeds, the squad played 'best-of-two' matches. They lost both games to the University of Vermont, a tough opponent. They split 1-1 with the University of Rhode Island, and beat both Brown and Hartford 2-0. In the playoffs, which were determined by a single game, the Jumbos beat Providence College in the first round and went on to avenge an earlier loss by defeating Vermont in the second round. The team met its match in the semi-finals with a loss against the University of Maine.
"All the games were very tight," added Goldfarb. "The playoffs were especially close."
Two rookies, freshman outside hitter Dan Coleman and sophomore middle hitter Mike Lutz, are proving their worth to the team, while starters seniors Goldfarb, Charlie Beckman and David Chang, as well as sophomore Jeff Van der Veer are returning to their previous, strong levels of play.
"Coleman is solid and consistent," asserted Goldfarb. "And Beckman is one of the best setters in New England, if not in the country."
The team currently is ranked 18th in the country, which Goldfarb said "will hopefully go up." The squad will soon have its first chance to achieve this goal when they tip off the regular season with a divisional tournament at Northeastern University this Saturday, Feb. 10.
