Teams: Volleyball: Press Releases

Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Written by Jason Varney

JUMBOS OFF TO MAINE IN SEARCH OF NESCAC CHAMPIONSHIP

MEDFORD -- Coming off a second-place finish in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) regular-season standings, the Tufts University Volleyball team is set for post-season action. The post-season starts this Friday (November 4) with an automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Tournament on the line at the 2005 NESCAC Championship held at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.

The Jumbos, ranked second in New England Division III behind conference leader Colby College, have amassed an overall regular season record of 25-5. Tufts will begin this weekend's action against conference #7 seed Amherst College (#8 in New England), a team the Jumbos defeated by a 3-1 margin on Tufts' Homecoming weekend. The match will be played on Friday night at 6:00 PM.

"The tournament is going to be tough," senior co-captain Courtney Evans (Bellaire, TX/Episcopal) said. "Every team is going to put everything on the court, but with our talent, I really think we can win the whole thing. As long as we trust each other on the court and play solid volleyball on our side of the net, we can win the NESCAC."

Tufts has tallied many impressive victories over the course of the season. The first came on the first weekend of the season at the Williams Invitational when they earned a 3-1 victory over the Ephs, the defending NESCAC champs and the #19 team in the country at the time. At the Tufts Invitational September 30-October 1, the Jumbos posted a thrilling 3-2 victory over then-New England #1 MIT and a huge 3-1 victory against #22 in the nation Cortland State. Tufts also lost a tight 3-2 match to #23 in the nation Eastern University that weekend. Tufts would roll through the rest of its NESCAC schedule and finish with a 9-1 mark in the conference.

"One major key to our success is that we have a lot of young talent led by some very experienced leaders," Coach Cora Thompson said. "With six talented freshmen, including our setter, and four talented sophomores, a coach might worry. However, due to the strong leadership of my juniors and my senior captains, we have been able to set our expectations high and teach the underclassmen what it takes to succeed at this level in this program."

The Jumbos are led statistically by junior Kelli Harrison (Blue Jay, CA/Rim of the World) who, in only 56 games, has amassed 250 total kills for a total of 4.46 kills per game, good for the second-best mark in NESCAC. Also a contributor on the defensive side, Harrison is second on the team in digs per game with 3.34, and has added a total of 20 blocks. Harrison has dealt with injury woes throughout the season, and is questionable in this weekend's tournament.

Rookie setter Kaitlin O'Reilly (Manhattan Beach, CA/Marymount) has been a great addition to the Jumbo cause this year. She earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors on September 26 and boasts a league-leading 11.61 assists per game (1149 total). She was named to three All-Tournament teams at Williams, MIT and Tufts.

The Jumbos have not only a talented offense, but a solid defense as well. Evans is second in the league in blocks per game, with a season average of 1.06. Evans has also contributed 1.85 kills per game, and leads the team in service aces with 35. Freshman Natalie Goldstein (Piedmont, CA/Piedmont) has also proven to be a strong contributor on the defensive side for the Jumbos, leading the team with 5.02 digs per game, good for the third best average in NESCAC. Goldstein has also tallied Tufts' third-best service ace total, with 23 on the season.

"All season, we have tried to stay emotionally constant throughout our matches, without being too excited after a surge in momentum or too down on ourselves after a couple mistakes," Evans said. "We play our best when we are relaxed and confident, so I think our success can be attributed to our mental toughness and ability to learn from our mistakes and then make adjustments on the court."

Senior co-captain April Gerry (Holmes, NY/Pawling) has joined Evans as the floor leader of the Jumbos, appearing in all but two games for the Jumbos. The senior holds the third highest kill total on the team, with 184 (1.82 per game), along with the second highest block total, with 69 on the season (0.68 per game). Her hitting percentage of .289 is ranked seventh in NESCAC.

"The depth of our bench has been extremely important," Gerry said. "We have so many great players, and they have all had the chance to see playing time. If one of us is having a bad day, it is absolutely no problem to have someone else step in. All of the girls are very talented and we are used to mixing it up. Plus, it is very difficult for other teams to get scouting reports on us because they never know who we are going to play."

Junior Dana Fleisher (Aspen, CO/Aspen) has also been a strong contributor for the Jumbos, averaging 2.57 kills per game and 3.33 digs per game this season. Sophomore Katie Wysham (Spokane, WA/St. Georges School) has been key in the Tufts defense this year, with 52 total blocks on the season (0.89 per game), the second best mark on the team. She also hits at a .245 percentage with 2.34 kills per game. Classmate Kay Lutostanski (Houston, TX/Saint Agnes Academy) has added 138 kills (2.94 per game) to the Jumbo offense.

Freshman Caitlin Dealy (Santa Barbara, CA/Santa Barbara) is yet another significant contributor. Dealy holds the third highest team mark in total digs with 238 (3.01 per game), also adding 196 kills (2.48 per game) for the second highest total on the team. Maya Ripecky (Chicago, IL/Northside) has also been a solid defensive contributor with 2.84 digs per game (213 total), also adding 15 service aces to the Jumbo cause.

Sophomore Stephanie Viola (Getzville, NY/Nardin Academy), freshman Stacy Filocco (Olney, MD/Good Counsel), freshman Kate Denniston (Tarzana, CA/Chaminade) and sophomore Cecilia Allende (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) have also played a role in the team's successful season.

"By playing different athletes, they have sufficient time to rest," Thompson said. "When you are playing the tough and competitive schedule that we have, staying healthy all season long - knock on wood - is half the battle. Everyone has committed to bettering their game this year. We have great team chemistry that promotes an ideal environment for learning and that's what everyone has done."

A NESCAC Championship victory would give the Jumbos an automatic berth into the 2005 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship. Tufts played in the 1996 NCAA Tournament for their only appearance. Thompson, a 1999 Tufts graduate, was on that team. The Jumbos lost at Coast Guard in the first round, 3-0.

"If we play well, I think we will win," Thompson said. "There are many talented teams in the tournament this year and, quite honestly, any one of them can win. The team that wins will be the team that stays focused and plays consistently throughout the whole weekend, making the least amount of mistakes. There are no easy matches and it will be a fight beginning to end."

Thompson is assisted by Lauren Knight. The pair has led the team to a 53-11 record since the start of the 2004 season.

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