As the season inches closer to the long-awaited NESCAC tournament, volleyball is eager to take home this year’s trophy. Although they lost to Colby and Bowdoin over this past weekend, their success at the beginning of the season led to a playoff clinch on Friday. The top eight teams make the tournament, and the Jumbos currently sit at the fourth spot with a 6–3 conference record.
In their Friday match against the Mules, the Jumbos celebrated Senior Day, honoring senior middle blocker Alina Qi and fifth-year outside hitter Christine Audette. While Tufts could not pull out the win for the team veterans, they held on for a five-set thriller against the only undefeated team in the conference.
The match was a back-and-forth battle, with the score being 25–23, 23–25, 25–22, 20–25, 15–10. Highlights included 12 kills from sophomore outside hitter Claire Castor, 24 assists from first-year defensive specialist Ellery Clark and 28 digs from first-year defensive specialist Dylan Whisenant. While they came up short, the Jumbos posted the most points against the Mustangs of any NESCAC team this year. It was also their highest-scoring match of the season with a total of 213 points between the two teams.
The next day, Tufts fell 3–0 to Bowdoin due to a variety of challenges. “We struggled to execute at crucial points in the matches, but we are proud of how hard the team fought against 2 talented teams,” head coach Cora Thompson wrote in an email to the Daily. The match score was 25–19, 25–19, 25–21.
Reflecting on the weekend, Audette noted the team’s shortcomings, but also looked at the losses as a chance to improve before the NESCAC tournament. “We made a lot of unforced errors in both games which hindered our ability to go on runs of points and execute,” she wrote in an email to the Daily. “Going into the NESCAC tournament, we are going to work on becoming better technically throughout each practice and growing our mental game to stay focused on the task at hand throughout each point, set, and match.”
With only one more in-conference match, which is against Wesleyan, the team is looking towards the upcoming New England Invitational and their match against Endicott College to test what they have been working on all season.
“After my knee injury going into my senior season last year, my goal was to be grateful for the opportunity to play again and to make the most of my season despite what physical restrictions my knee might have on me,” Audette wrote. “I believe that these goals have stayed consistent within me but have increased going into our last five regular season games. The collective team mindset is gradually shifting to this mindset that we need to work our hardest and play like these games are our last as we near the end of our season.”
With a NESCAC championship already under her belt from her junior year in 2022, Audette wants the team to earn what she feels is a well-deserved trophy. “I have learned that any team can win the NESCAC title throughout my years at Tufts and that our team this year is fully capable of earning this title if we put our minds to it and put the work in,” she wrote.
In terms of what the team will work on going into these last few weeks, it is all about consistency and executing in the crucial moments. “We will continue to focus on our ball control and execution. We have 5 incredibly tough matches ahead - which has been the story of our season - and we will continue to use each match as an opportunity to fight for excellence,” coach Thompson wrote. “This is a very competitive group and a gritty group and we fully expect them to compete and finish high in the conference and make a successful run through the NESCAC tournament.”
The team — which is notably young with only five out of 22 players being upperclassmen — will play the New England Invitational on Friday and Saturday, followed by their last two matches against Endicott on Oct. 30. and Wesleyan on Nov. 1, both of which will be at home in Cousens Gymnasium.
Their final match against Wesleyan will inevitably determine whether they are the third or fourth seed, which could be the difference between taking this year’s title or walking home and hoping for better luck next year.
