Coming into the NESCAC Tournament, the volleyball team felt confident about its chances after a 24−4 regular season that included nine wins in the conference — good enough for the No. 2 seed. But the Jumbos failed to meet expectations on Saturday, dropping a close four−set match to the Middlebury Panthers.
Tufts narrowly made it to the semifinal matchup with Middlebury, as a spirited effort from Williams almost sent the Jumbos home in the first round. The Jumbos blew a two−set lead but were able to right the ship and emerge from the quarterfinals with their third win over the Ephs this year. Freshman Kelly Brennan led the way for the Jumbos, posting 13 kills and 14 digs as Williams was eliminated in the quarterfinals for the first time in its NESCAC era.
"I'm really proud of the win against Williams, because they definitely came back and played their best against us, which always seems to happen," senior tri−captain Lexi Nicholas said. "But we were able to keep our energy up and finish the match strong."
The real action came against Middlebury on Saturday, as the Jumbos took on a Panthers squad that they blew out of Cousens Gym in straight sets on Oct. 8. This match was close from the very start, and Middlebury eked out a 26−24 win in the first set to take the early advantage.
"I don't think we started off as strong as we could have," Nicholas said. "But that being said, they were playing on top of their game, and it was so close that it could have gone either way."
Tufts fought back immediately, taking the second set 25−20 thanks in large part to the efforts of senior tri−captain Cara Spieler, who finished with a match−high 19 kills. But the Panthers responded once again, turning the match into a seesaw battle as they took the third set 25−21, putting themselves one set away from the NESCAC final.
"All the sets were so close, and they battled really well, but we did too," Spieler said. "So it came down to the little things in the end, and unfortunately we weren't able to win those key points."
The lack of that killer instinct was particularly evident in the decisive fourth set. Tufts had a 22−19 advantage and even managed to get a set point, but Middlebury rallied, eventually taking the set 28−26 and saddling the Jumbos with a heartbreaking end to one of their strongestNESCAC campaigns in recent years.
Middlebury's victory can be attributed to its balanced attack, as two of the squad's outside hitters, sophomore Megan Jarchow and senior Jane Handel, finished with 13 kills apiece. Although Tufts had the upper hand in most of the statistical categories, the Panthers' cohesion and communication were the keys to their success.
"Their outside hitters were having a great game, so we had to adjust our blocking," Spieler said. "But no one on our team had a bad game, we just didn't play together as well as we could have. Middlebury played really well as a team, but we were super bummed to lose the match because we did play well."
The Panthers went to the NESCAC finals to try to defend last year's NESCAC title against Bowdoin, but they ended up losing to the Polar Bears in straight sets as the Maine school captured its first−ever conference championship. Ironically, Bowdoin — which was Tufts' toughest rival all season — ended up doing the Jumbos a favor, because their victory improved Tufts' strength of schedule and meant that the Polar Bears would receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
That result, coupled with others elsewhere in New England, landed the Jumbos an at−large bid and a first−round matchup with Roger Williams, a team Tufts has not faced in at least 10 seasons. The Hawks are an impressive 28−3 this fall.
"The bid [was] really up to chance," Nicholas said. "But we had a strong schedule and even with the loss we were still [ranked] fourth in the region."
While Tufts will not be one of the favorites next weekend, the team is grateful for the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
"The results [Saturday] went as well as they really could have, because Bowdoin, Springfield, and UMass all won," Spieler said. "We had a strong schedule, which helped us, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Bowdoin, Springfield, and UMass all won," Spieler said. "We had a strong schedule, which helped us, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens."
