Sept. 11, 2007
MEDFORD, MA - The Endicott College women's volleyball team dropped a hard-fought decision to Tufts University on Tuesday night at the Cousens Gymnasium, 3-2, in Medford, MA.
The Jumbos won the first game convincingly 30-20, but then the Gulls were easy winners in the second 30-18. Momentum shifted strongly towards Tufts in the third game with a 30-17 victory, but the Gulls were able to hold off the Jumbos for a 30-28 win in the fourth game. However, it was all Tufts in the decisive fifth game, 15-7.
Leading a young Jumbo squad with 15 kills was first-year hitter Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA). Captain Katie Wysham (Spokane, WA) and sophomore Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, CA) added nine apiece. Tufts had a strong service game, with five aces from junior Kaitlin O Reilly (Manhattan Beach, CA) leading the way to 14 aces for the team. Defensively, junior Natalie Goldstein (Piedmont, CA) finished with 20 digs and Wysham was in on five blocks.
For Endicott, junior Brittany Nolan (Monroe, CT/Masuk) was the digs leader with 17 and junior Hayley Janelle (Madbury, NH/Oyster River) had three solo blocks defensively. On offense, freshman Brittany Phillips (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln Sudbury) led with 13 kills while senior Meghan Hall (Santa Cruz, CA/Aptos) set the offense with 43 assists.
Tufts hosts NESCAC rival Williams on Friday night at Cousens, while Endicott has TCCC matches against Regis and Anna Maria on Saturday.