Volleyball split games this weekend, winning 3–0 over Connecticut College on Friday night and losing 3–2 to Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon. The team now stands at 6–1 on the season after facing its first NESCAC competition of the season in the Connecticut College Camels and the Wesleyan Cardinals. Friday night’s match was quickly won in three by the Jumbos (25–16, 25–18, 25–10). Saturday’s match against the Cardinals was long and extremely competitive, with many back-and-forth scores throughout five sets (20–25, 25–11, 21–25, 34–32, 13–15).
Saturday’s match against the Cardinals was expectedly the best competition the Jumbos have faced this season. Going into Saturday afternoon, Head Coach Cora Thompson said she was excited to play some better ball.
“We want to play good teams and be tested,” Thompson said. “If we want to be the top in New England, and if we want to win our conference, we have to play top competition and improve as we go. Of course, we want to be on the winning end of it, but we really just want to be tested at a faster, higher level.”
Walking into Cousens Gym Saturday afternoon, the energy was noticeably off the charts — the bleachers were packed, and the teams were loud and engaged on both sides. The Wesleyan Cardinals came out confident with a strong record of 3–1, very different from the Jumbos’ previous opponent, the Camels, who had not yet played a game this season. The Cardinals and Jumbos played a fast-paced first set that set the tempo for the rest of the afternoon. The two teams had an epic back and forth battle in the fourth set with an insane final score of 34–32, Tufts coming out on top in the grueling set. The momentum constantly shifted between the teams, but the Cardinals ultimately came out on top in the fifth set (13–15). Super senior middle hitter and co-captain Jennifer Ryan said that despite the loss, a lot of good still came out of the night.
“People fought really hard and I’m proud of them for that,” Ryan said. “It was a tough loss, but the great thing about it, looking at the positive side and trying not to get down since we have so many games going forward, is that there’s a lot that we can learn.”
The entire squad was fired up and added either energy, physical success, or both to the team’s effort in gaining momentum throughout the match. Both sophomore setter Maddie Yu and junior libero Stephanie Lee recorded 24 digs. Senior outside hitter and co-captain Cate Desler recorded 22 kills, while Ryan recorded 12, leading the team in kill percentage with a .391 for the night.
“It was fun for me personally as a younger player watching [Desler] and [Ryan] and all our seniors be so fired up,” sophomore defensive specialist Megan Harrison said. “It was super intense and honestly inspiring to see what the culture is all about.”
Harrison also made an impact in shifting the energy in favor of the Jumbos.
“It is honestly very mind blowing," she said. "I think back to sophomore year of high school, thinking about Tufts as my dream school. It is very surreal to be playing in a Tufts jersey. It’s such a great opportunity I’ve been working towards and I’m just so grateful to have gotten it.”
Against the Camels on Friday night, Desler led the team in kills with 12 for the night and was second in digs with 13. Lee had the most digs, recording an impressive 16. Going into this match, junior outside hitter Jennelle Yarwood said the team honed in on some basics.
"We focused a lot on our serve and pass game just because that’s really important,” Yarwood said. “I think we ran a lot of good systems and put up a good block.”
After their first loss of the season, the Jumbos are looking forward to bouncing back and learning from the good competition. The squad’s next match is Thursday night at Springfield College at 7 p.m.
