Volleyball | Tufts roars back from early loss to win first match of 2008

    Things looked bleak for the volleyball team in its first match of the season Tuesday night, as the Jumbos found themselves down a set to the 6-0 Stonehill Skyhawks. But luckily for Tufts, the final outcome was settled after four sets, not one, and the team walked away from Cousens with its first win under its belt.
    "For our first game, we played really well," senior tri-captain Natalie Goldstein said. "We were kind of all over in the beginning. There were a lot of nerves we needed to get out, but over the next three games we kept improving. All we needed to do was get a little time on the court."
    The Div. II Skyhawks were coming off a dominant 3-0 win over Conn. College Saturday, and after a 25-21 first-set loss, Tufts seemed to be in dire straights.
    "We made a lot of errors in that first set, but as the match progressed, we committed less and less unforced errors," coach Cora Thompson said. "In the first set we had two out-of-rotation situations when the lineup overlaps with players, and that's stuff that is controllable and shouldn't happen. As the season starts to progress, you'll see a more disciplined level of volleyball."
    Nonetheless, Thompson chose to keep her same eight-woman rotation on the floor, and the decision paid off.
    "I just wanted to give that particular lineup a good amount of experience and get some time to work out the kinks," she said. "I pointed out that we were still in control of our destiny. We had made 14 errors, and we lost the first by four, so you're giving the other team the match. If we cut down on unforced errors, we're going to give ourselves a better chance of winning the next set."
    With that on their minds, the Jumbos took control of the match, overwhelming the Skyhawks to nail the following three sets 25-19, 25-15 and 25-21.
    "We really controlled the pace of the game," said Goldstein, who took her usual spot as the team leader in digs with 13. "The reason why they were in it at the beginning was that we committed so many unforced errors, and we cut down on those."
    Senior tri-captain Stacy Filocco continued her killing spree from last season, pacing the Jumbos with 15 in the match. Sophomore Dawson Joyce-Mendive and freshman Cara Spieler, the only first-year player to receive playing time, also tallied double-digit totals in kills.
    "[Filocco] hit well," Thompson said. "She had the most sets of anyone on the team, with 44. She's a smarter hitter, and her court sense is much improved. She knows when to swing away or work a roll shot or tip. She mixes it up with great power, but her ball control keeps getting better and better.
    "[Joyce-Mendive] did a great job too," she continued. "She's so good at placing her shots. [Spieler] had a few freshman jitters, but at the same time, she's a solid player. She played a couple positions today and was overall one of our most solid passers, which is big since serve-receive has always been one of our weaknesses."
    Setting up the hitters was junior Dena Feiger, who notched 39 assists as the lone primary setter all night. Feiger and senior Maya Ripecky notched three aces apiece, part of the team's 11 total, while also combining for only one of the squad's 10 service errors.
    "We were serving aggressively," Thompson said. "We got more comfortable serving as the jitters started to fade out. Our goal is to serve aggressively, and I'm okay with serving errors if we're going to stay aggressive, not if we're wailing it out by 10 feet. It's important we keep service aces up, because that's our first offensive attack."
    Tufts' defense also impressed, holding the then-undefeated Skyhawks to a season-low .180 hitting percentage compared to the Jumbos' .235. The squad also came up with 34 team digs and four team blocks thanks to middle blockers sophomore Erica Lokken and senior tri-captain Kate Denniston.
    "We did very well with our intensity on defense, which is something that's only going to get better," Thompson said. "We did a great job fighting in some of those long rallies with Goldstein and Ripecky, who were great in the back row and kept us alive."
    Tufts will look to carry its momentum onto the road this weekend for a tournament at Brandeis, where the competition will include last year's conference champion, Williams.
    "We're feeling really good going into this weekend," Denniston said. "We have a really deep bench, and everyone on the team deserves to be there."
    "The most exciting thing about our team is that there's a lot of talent on the bench," Thompson said. "This coming weekend, when we have four more matches, other lineups will be tested and people will be shifted.
    "At the same time, I still expect to win every match," she continued. "I think it's a realistic goal. It's not going to be easy, but from what I saw last night — the fight we have in us, the refuse to lose attitude — is what will help us win tight games. We have five seniors, and that's what they expect. We have high goals this season, and every time out we have to prove how much we want it and how disciplined we'll be."