Having participated in two invitationals already this season at Brandeis and MIT, the undefeated volleyball team will host its own, the fifth annual Tufts Invitational in Cousens Gym this weekend.
While the Jumbos entered their home tourney last season 7-6 and finished 1-3 there, the 2008 squad finds itself writing a different story this year.
After taking a year off for personal reasons, coach Cora Thompson has led her team to a 13-0 start, the best in the program's history. Saturday, the Jumbos came back from two sets down against Conn. College to win the MIT Invitational. Meanwhile, the 11-8 Engineers are struggling a year after they graduated their best player, Amanda Morris. The Engineers won both the MIT and Tufts Invitationals last year, but the chances of another tourney victory on the Hill look grim.
"[Tufts] seems to be the team to beat in New England," MIT coach Paul Dill said. "They're playing very well and with a lot of confidence. I think having [Thompson] back at the helm is always going to be a plus. One of the big things for them is that they started off the season very hot and [have] gain[ed] confidence with every match. We're rebuilding a little bit with the loss of our All-American setter [Morris]."
The Jumbos will play two matches later this afternoon against Endicott and Elmhurst, followed by matches against Union and MIT tomorrow. It will be the first time Tufts faces off against the Engineers -- a team that went 3-0 against the Jumbos in 2007 -- this season.
In the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll (Sept. 30), Union (21-1) and Tufts finished just outside the top 25 with seven and five points, respectively.
"We're getting higher and higher in the ranks of New England, so the bull's-eye on our back starts getting bigger," Thompson said. "Teams that are average on any given day are going to start playing their best against you. There's nothing to lose for them and everything to gain."
"It's awesome to be ranked," Union coach Sandy Collins said. "It just validates all of our efforts. It's the first time it's happened for us, and it's very exciting to get some recognition. We returned the entire team from last year, and the kids have been together for two full seasons now. We added a couple freshmen but two full seasons together has a lot to do with chemistry on the court."
Union and Tufts both run their offenses through a couple of junior setters who are averaging an impressive 10 assists-per-game. Union's Jennifer Merinder has won multiple tournament MVPs this year and has been named the Liberty League and ECAC player of the week, a recognition which Collins says is well deserved. The Jumbos' Dena Feiger ranks second in the NESCAC in assists, but Thompson believes that can improve if their passers can get the ball to her in a better position.
"We're trying to run a faster offense and give Dena multiple options to set," Thompson said. "It's important to have a lot of hitting options and a great hitting attack, but before you think about offense you have to think about passing. We've been working on a lot of serving and serve-receive passing. If we don't get a great pass, Dena's only going to have one option, so that hitter will have a tough time getting it through the big block.
"Union will be a battle," she continued. "For once we have nothing to lose playing against a nationally-ranked team. It's a fun position to really try to prove ourselves against these great teams. How good are we really when we're playing against a faster offense and better serving teams? When you're playing an out-of-region team and you don't have a scouting report or haven't seen them play, it's a new experience. You're learning about each other as you play."
Over the weekend, Tufts sophomore Caitlin Updike lead her team, garnering the MIT Tournament MVP and NESCAC Player of the Week honors. Updike posted double-digit kills in every match in the tournament, capped off with 20 kills against just two errors in the final.
Tufts' turnaround in the final might have been sparked by a lineup change, as Updike was moved from the outside to middle hitter. The Jumbos found themselves thin in the middle as sophomore Erica Lokken went down with a sprain last Friday, but she expects to play today.
"Updike had a great weekend," Thompson said. "She's very flexible. We played her in the middle and also had her play outside. We don't typically have her play all-around but she served and really took on that challenge. We really could see that determination in her face, like 'team get on my back, here we go.' "
Colby-Sawyer, Polytechnic University and Wellesley will round out the tournament field.
"There's a lot of tough competition in this tournament, and we've been doing really well against tougher teams," Updike said. "We just have to keep our composure and we expect to do well."
"It's going to be physically and mentally grueling," Thompson said. "We stack our invitational with talented teams -- not one team weaker than the rest. Our girls need to be rested and ready to take on the challenge, but we're looking forward to it."
