On Saturday, Cousens Gymnasium buzzed with anticipation for the match Tufts volleyball had been preparing for all season. The Jumbos secured the No. 3 seed in the NESCAC Tournament with a regular season conference record of 7–3. Because they had beaten Wesleyan University and lost to Middlebury College, they sat between the two teams in the standings, despite all three teams having the same record. They bested Williams College 3–1 about a month before this playoff match, but in the end, they came up short when it mattered most in the NESCAC Tournament, falling 2–3 in a true battle.
In the first set, Tufts got off to a slow start with Williams taking an early 11–4 lead. Tufts was able to find bursts of momentum, eventually inching closer to sit only three points behind at 21–18. Nonetheless, Tufts never found themselves in the lead in the first set and lost 25–20.
At the beginning of the second set, fans began to play a role in the spirit of the game. Blue pom-poms waved in the not-so-crowded stands as some members of the women’s basketball team came to show their support on the sidelines.
Tufts played a strong second set with seven total aces: four from junior setter Ella Norris, one from senior middle blocker Alina Qi and two from sophomore outside hitter Claire Castor. The Jumbos found a way to string together multiple points, helping them solidify their lead, and took 8 of the last 9 points of the set, equalizing the match with a score of 25–19.
The third set was similar to the first; it slowly slipped away while the Jumbos tried to hold on. Their grasp came too late as the Jumbos lost on a huge spike by the Ephs, 25–21. On the verge of their season coming to an end, they would need to find something within them to survive.
After the first point of the fourth set, where sophomore setter Rianna Liu played a nice touch to find a gap in Williams’ defense, Tufts sprung to a 6–1 lead, forcing a Williams timeout to halt their momentum. This timeout ended up working for the Ephs, as they found their way back at 9–9. The following part of the set went back and forth, eventually reaching 18–18. With a final push to win the set, the Jumbos secured 7 of the last 10 points, winning 25–21, and forcing a fifth set that would be played to 15 points.
Tension rose in the final set, with more aggressive cheering from both sides, and, at 6–5, Tufts attempted to contest a call that they thought should have gone their way and brought them even with Williams. The referee, however, determined that the ball Williams had hit had gone inside the antenna. However, head coach Cora Thompson disagreed. In an email to the Daily, Thompson wrote “From the film and the angle of where she played the ball, we were pretty certain that it came over the officials back (as he ducked to avoid being hit) and therefor missed crossing the net from their side which would have been legal. Our players did not play it because they saw it go outside of the antenna. Sometimes those calls go for you and sometimes against. Either way…it added fuel to our fire to earn the next points.”
The Jumbos did find a way back after the disappointing call, and after a kill by first-year outside hitter Maiwenn Kamdje followed by a kill from sophomore opposite hitter Emma Heckman and an ace by freshman setter Ellery Clark, they found themselves tied at 12–12. Either side could take the set and the match.
In the end, Williams came on top, ending one of the most difficult seasons in recent Tufts volleyball history.
“It was definitely scary to know that the Williams game could have such a big impact on the course of our lives this season,” Kamdje wrote in an email to the Daily. “Nevertheless, I tried not to see it from the perspective of a season ender, but rather as an opportunity to showcase everything I've learned from my coaches and my peers.”
Looking back on the season, Thompson would not have made any changes because she believes the team learned a lot from how the season went.
“I am so incredibly proud of this team,” she wrote. “We scheduled the toughest schedule ever for a TUVB team, harder than ANY previous TUVB schedule in my last 23 years. As a result they competed against 14 regionally ranked teams and 10 nationally ranked. A team that is 75% 1st and 2nd years, essentially a JV team, was thrown into the fire to compete at a very high level. We learned a lot about ourselves quickly and truly improved as a result. We are so proud of them. I am also very proud of our upper classwomen who welcomed and ushered in 9 rookies making them feel at home as quickly as possible.”
With such a young team, a successful next season seems like a natural progression.
“I've learned to never take any moment in practice or games for granted,” Kamdje wrote. “My teammates have inspired me to come ready to work every day in good times or bad because the work you put in during difficult times pays off the most. I'm taking that lesson with me into post season and the seasons to come.”
