Teams: Volleyball: Press Releases

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

O'REILLY CAPS WEEKEND PLAY WITH NESCAC VOLLEYBALL HONOR

MEDFORD – The Tufts University volleyball team continued to pick up steam, hosting and winning the 2006 Tufts Invitational at Cousens Gymnasium over the weekend. The Jumbos posted victories against Wellesley, Salisbury, Cortland and MIT to improve to 12-4 overall.

Sophomore setter Kaitlin O'Reilly (Manhattan Beach, CA/Marymount) was the catalyst to the title. She earned tournament Most Valuable Player and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Week awards as a result.

O'Reilly played in three of the four matches over the weekend and averaged a remarkable 11.18 assists per game. She also added 31 digs, four kills, two service aces and four block assists to her weekend's resume.

Her top performance came on Saturday in the Jumbos' third match of the tournament against Cortland State University. She guided the team to a .212 hitting percentage with 41 assists in three games for a 13.7 average. With O'Reilly adding an ace, seven digs and two block assists, the Jumbos won in three games to set up a showdown against local rival MIT for the tournament title.

Both Tufts and MIT entered the match with undefeated 3-0 marks for the weekend. In a five-game win during which they came back from being down 2-1, the Jumbos topped the Engineers with O'Reilly contributing 46 assists, 16 digs and two block assists. The victory on their home court was the first in three tries against MIT this season.

O'Reilly also added 36 assists in a three-game win over Salisbury on Friday night. This is the second NESCAC Player of the Week award of her young career. She was named on September 26, 2005 last season after her performance at the MIT Invitational.

For the 2006 season, O'Reilly is third in NESCAC with an average of 10.67 assists in 51 games. The Jumbos are 1-1 in conference play, which they continue with matches this weekend at Amherst and at Middlebury.

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