Tufts athletics gears up for packed spring break

As most Tufts students leave campus for spring break, Tufts sports teams will be busy preparing for the spring season over the next week.

Women's basketball headlines this weekend as the team made it back to the NCAA Div. III Championship Final Four for the third straight year. The Jumbos are in Columbus, Ohio, getting ready for a showdown on the national stage against the Wartburg College Knights at Capital University tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Should they win, they would play in the NCAA Championship game on April 4, potentially in a rematch against Amherst Lord Jeffs, with a chance to avenge their NESCAC Championship loss. Tomorrow night's game will be streamed online, and the link can be found on the women's basketball page of gotuftsjumbos.com.

The baseball and softball teams kick off their seasons with their annual spring break road trips, with baseball playing 11 games over the break in a swing through Virginia and the Carolinas, while softball plays seven doubleheaders in eight days in Florida. Baseball's season-opener comes this afternoon at 3:00 pm against Castleton in Newport News, Va., while the threepeat defending national champion softball team embarks on its title-defense against Whitworth tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.

For those sticking around the Medford area, men's lacrosse looks to get to 2-0 in the NESCAC with a game against Colby tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at Bello Field before heading to Stevenson on Tuesday and then Trinity on Saturday, March 26.

In a similar schedule, women's lacrosse heads to Colby this evening, looking to get its first NESCAC win before heading to Stevenson on Thursday and then returning to Medford for a matchup against Trinity on Saturday, March 26.

Men's and women's tennis teams will play a series of matches over the upcoming week to kick off their spring seasons after their four-month break since the fall season. The men will play Vassar, at a location and time to be announced tomorrow, and the women will take on Pacific University on Sunday in Malibu.

Rounding out the action over the break, the co-ed and women's sailing teams continue to get back into form for their spring seasons. The co-ed team will compete in the Geiger Trophy Team Race hosted by MIT tomorrow and Sunday and then in the Staake Trophy Team Race hosted by Conn. College next weekend. The women's team, meanwhile, will compete in an event at St. Mary's tomorrow and Sunday, before hosting the Duplin Trophy competition next weekend.