Teams: Volleyball: Team Overview

►Tufts selected to host NCAA Regional again
►Jumbos to host NESCAC Championship for second straight year
►Feiger wins second NESCAC Player of the Week award
►Feiger is team's second straight Player of the Week
►Helgeson earns NESCAC Player of the Week

The Tufts University Volleyball team is coming off the best season in the history of the program and is hungry for more success. Coach Cora Thompson's program has established itself at the top of the New England ladder and continues to improve its national profile.

Tufts was the best team in New England during the 2008 season, earning the right to host the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship and the NCAA Division III Regional at Cousens Gymnasium. The Jumbos won their first 15 matches, finished the regular season with a 27-2 record and were a perfect 10-0 in the competitive NESCAC. Their 29-4 final record tied the program mark for wins in a season, originally set by Thompson's 2005 team.

Thompson was voted NESCAC and New England Women's Volleyball Association Coach of the Year last season for the second time. Since the 2004 season, Tufts has compiled an outstanding 128-38 record for a .771 winning percentage. Also in that span, the Jumbos have posted a 42-7 record in conference play and earned two NCAA Tournament berths. In 2005, the Jumbos played into the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals under Thompson. The coach earned the 100th victory of her career during the 2006 season, and currently has a stellar 149-49 mark (.753) during six seasons at the helm. A four-year member of the team and an assistant coach after graduating from Tufts in 1999, Thompson has enthusiastically guided the Jumbos to their current place among the region's best.

Thompson recruits nationally to bring the best talent to Tufts. Last fall, Jumbo Natalie Goldstein from Piedmont, California was voted NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year. Dena Feiger (Long Grove, IL), Kate Denniston (Tarzana, CA) and Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, NV) each earned All-NESCAC status. All three were also selected for American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-America honors.

As members of NESCAC, Tufts plays in the nation's most competitive small college conference academically and athletically. The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities that share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate athletics. Volleyball players at Tufts have consistently received recognition for their academic efforts. Three team members earned NESCAC All-Academic Team honors in 2008.

Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with "an unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff, and bright and talented students," according to President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28 sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAAs Division III. Tufts finished 10th in the 2009 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, which awards points based on NCAA performances. The University's proximity to a world-class city renowned for its academic institutions is also a major draw.

Thompson has been associated with the Volleyball program for 14 years since coming to Tufts from Half Moon Bay, California in 1995. A defensive specialist for the Jumbos, she was a sophomore on the 1996 Tufts team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. She also played in three NCAA Tournaments as a four-year starter at shortstop on the softball team. She earned her master's in education from Tufts in 2001.

Cousens Gymnasium, home of the Jumbos, is currently undergoing a major renovation that will improve the playing and viewing experience while maintaining the feel of the historic venue. Opened in 1932, Cousens is one of New England's oldest and most charming sites for indoor sports. During the summer 2005 it was featured in the NCAA News as a "One of a Kind" facility. This year, the team will host its seventh annual invitational at the gym. The Tufts schedule occasionally includes out-of-region travel. The team took a season-opening trip to California to play in the Pacific Coast Classic in 2007.

Former Jumbo All-American Courtney Evans is in her second year as Thompson's graduate assistant coach. Co-captain and middle hitter of the 2005 "Sweet 16" team, she had been teaching history and coaching volleyball at a prep school in Houston for two years before returning to Tufts. She coached a team for the elite Houston Juniors Volleyball Club as well.

This is the 29th season of Tufts Volleyball. Since gaining varsity status in 1981, the Jumbo program has built a solid reputation in New England by playing a competitive schedule and regularly qualifying for the post-season. Along with NESCAC competitors Williams and Amherst, Tufts plays regional powerhouses Wellesley, Springfield and MIT on a yearly basis. The team has posted just two losing seasons in its history and each year the Jumbos aspire to be the best in New England.