After a weekend of play against keen competition, the volleyball team emerged from its home tournament with its first loss of the season, dropping its third match of the Tufts Invitational to Union College on its way to a 3-1 third-place tournament finish and a 16-1 overall record.
In their final match of the tournament, the Jumbos took on the reigning Tufts Invitational champions and local rivals, the MIT Engineers, who beat the Jumbos in last year's tournament. Tufts exercised revenge this time around, outlasting the Engineers 3-2.
Early on, Tufts still appeared shaken by their previous loss to Union. The Jumbos kept the set close, staying within two points up to a 13-13 score. Building on successful blocking, though, MIT finally built a big enough lead and took the set 25-15.
"The first set was slow," senior tri-captain Natalie Goldstein said. "We were not playing our game and we let MIT take control."
The Jumbos proved resilient, though, and took the closely contested second set 25-22, ending on a kill by sophomore Dawson Joyce-Mendive after a particularly long rally. Joyce-Mendive led the Jumbos throughout the match with 13 kills as the Jumbos eventually went on to stage a come-from-behind victory over the Engineers in five sets.
The third set saw Tufts take a 17-12 lead, but only to allow MIT to come back and take the set 26-24. Now down 2-1, the Jumbos took the court for the do-or-die fourth set and, despite building a seemingly insurmountable 18-10, MIT clawed back into the set and knotted the score at 22-22. The Engineers forced the Jumbos to make a number of adjustments as they were doing a good job of keeping the Jumbos' hits from landing and were putting a lot of balls over their blocks.
"We had to mix up our shots and tips," senior tri-captain Stacy Filocco said. "The tips helped to open up holes in their blocks."
Defense was also crucial in keeping Tufts alive through the many long points that characterized the match. Defensive leaders were senior Maya Ripecky, who had 17 digs, and Goldstein, who posted 16. Junior setter Dena Feiger also contributed 12 digs in addition to her 50 assists. Strong defense led the Jumbos to winning three consecutive points, closing out the fourth set by a score of 25-22.
"Our blockers did a good job leaving space for our defense to play around," Ripecky said.
The final set was no less nerve-wracking than the previous two, as the Jumbos were able to build a six-point lead at 12-6 but could not stop the Engineers from tying the score at 14-14 and again at 15-15. With help from kills by first-year Cara Spieler, who notched 11 on the match, as well senior tri-captain Kate Denniston, Filocco, and junior Brogie Helgeson, the Jumbos were able to prevent the Engineers from ever taking a lead.
Following the trend of the previous sets, the final set was marked by a number of long points, including the final two. MIT seemed to feel the pressure, putting multiple balls into the net throughout the set. Defense was crucial on the final two points of the match, as neither team appeared willing to surrender. Up 16-15, Tufts was finally able to secure the victory on a powerful kill from Filocco after one of the sets longest points, taking the match 15-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 17-15.
"We knew it was our game to win, being at home," Filocco said. "We were successful tipping all game, but we knew we had to win on a hit, not a tip."
Having won its first two matches of the tournament on Friday, Tufts came into the match against Union with a blemish-free 15-0 record. The Dutchwomen, who had received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association national ranking poll the previous week, proved to be more than the Jumbos could handle, toppling them in straight sets 25-18, 25-21, 25-20.
Although the first set of the match remained tight at the beginning, Union eventually built an overwhelming lead. Over the next two sets, the Jumbos were never able to keep a lead of more than two points as the Dutchwomen took the match to improve to 25-1 on the season. Union also defeated Wellesley earlier in the day, and finished the weekend with a 4-0 record to win the tournament.
With sophomore Caitlin Updike, the team leader in kills, out with an injury, Joyce-Mendive took leadership of the offense with nine kills. Denniston was also a strong presence at the net with eight kills. Goldstein led the squad's defense with 16 digs.
"Union was the best team we have faced thus far," Goldstein said. "It was a good opportunity to get to play a team out of our region that got a lot of votes nationally. But it's upsetting that we didn't play the best we could."
"People are coming for us," Filocco said. "It means something to beat Tufts. [Union was] a great blocking team. We were just not ready for them. We didn't know how tough it would be."
The struggles that the Jumbos had on Saturday stood in stark contrast to their wins against Endicott and Elmhurst on Friday.
The Jumbos swept the Elmhurst Blue Jays 25-23, 25-12, 25-18. While they breezed through the second and third sets, the first one was much closer. The score was tied 15 times before the Jumbos were able to secure the win.
In their first match of the tournament, the Jumbos overcame Endicott 25-21, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20. The Gulls were unable to gain a lead until their win in the third set.
Despite dropping their first match of the season and ending their perfect streak, the Jumbos still had a successful weekend, as they remained tied with Amherst for first place in the NESCAC at 3-0. They also still have the best overall record in the NESCAC with 16 wins against one loss. The Jumbos next match will be this Wednesday when they host Coast Guard at 7 p.m. in Cousens Gym.
"The pressure is gone and now we can just play volleyball," Ripecky said.
