Posted: Oct 21, 2009
BEVERLY, Mass. – New England’s top-ranked team Tufts University used set scores of 25-21, 25-17 and 25-21 as the Jumbos defeated Endicott, 3-0, in non-conference women’s volleyball action on Wednesday evening in Beverly, Mass. Tufts improves to 22-2 on the season (7-1 NESCAC), while the Gulls slip to 15-13 and 6-1 in TCCC play.
Endicott opened the night by quickly grabbing a 4-1 lead. The Gulls pushed the advantage to 13-8 as junior \#Brittany Phillips\# (Sudbury, Mass.) dropped in a service ace to give the Blue and Green a five point cushion. The Jumbos responded by taking seven of the next 10 points to pull within one, 16-15. Endicott regained a slight advantage with three-straight points, including back-to-back kills by Phillips, giving the Gulls a 19-15 advantage. The lead would be short-lived, however, as Tufts’ Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) went on a seven point serving run that changed the momentum of the set. Updike notched two aces and Endicott suffered an out of rotation fault, eventually falling in the set, 25-21.
Tufts remained in the driver’s seat in game two, jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the early going. Senior Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and freshman Brittany Neff (Culver City, Calif.) combined to extend the Jumbos’ lead to 16-9, before the visitors eventually took the frame, 25-17. Tufts swung at a .406 clip in the second set victory.
A see-saw battle in game three eventually went in Tufts’ direction. The teams played to an 11-all draw before the Jumbos started inching ahead. A three-point run sparked by a service ace from Kelly Engelking (Westborough, Mass.) opened up a 17-13 lead for the guests. The lead went to 20-16 on a Dena Feiger (Long Grove, Ill.) ace, before Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, Calif.) closed the night with an ace of her own on the near side for the 25-21 win.
Tufts was led by Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, Nev.) and her 14 kills. Caitlin Updike had 12 kills and just one error on 28 swings (.393), while Brittany Neff and Lexi Nichols (San Diego, Calif.) finished with six kills apiece. Dena Feiger had 41 assists while Brogie Helgeson ended the night with eight kills and 16 digs. The Jumbos had eight aces on the evening.
Endicott got nine kills from senior \#Steph Wiese\# (Higganum, Conn). \#Brittany Phillips\# and \#Elyse Barbour\# (Greenville, R.I.) each had eight kills while \#Ally Murphy\# (Gilford, N.H.) and \#Mollie Postma\# (Everett, Wash.) had 11 and 12 assists, respectively. \#Ashley Norley\# (Sudbury, Mass.) notched 12 digs in the losing effort.
Endicott returns to action on Saturday when the Gulls host a tri-match with Coast Guard and Connecticut College beginning at 11:00 a.m. Tufts takes the court on Friday evening against Smith College at 5:00 p.m.
