Teams: Volleyball: Schedule & Results

TUFTS WINS SECOND STRAIGHT MIT INVITATIONAL TITLE

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL FINAL SCORES
MIT Invitational
Tufts 3, Connecticut College 1  (19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23)
Tufts 3, Williams 0  (26-24, 25-21, 25-20)

At Cambridge, MA
Saturday, September 26, 2009

Connecticut College Match Statistics

Williams Match Statistics

Brogie Helgeson was the MIT Invitational MVP

CAMBRIDGE -- The Tufts University volleyball team defeated Connecticut College and Williams College on Saturday in the Championship Bracket to win their second straight MIT Invitational title. After defeating the Camels in four sets for the semi-finals, Tufts took three straight from Williams to win the championship.

The two victories give the Jumbos 11 straight and improve their 2009 record to 11-1. Connecticut College fell to 8-3 and the Williams record is now 8-4. Tufts defeated the Camels in five last fall to win their first MIT title.

Senior co-captain Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, CA) was named the tournament MVP. Sophomore libero Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) was one of six players named to the MIT Invitational All-Tournament team. This is the second All-Tournament selection of the young season for Kuan, who was also honored at the season-opening Brandeis Invitational.

Tufts, who had defeated Connecticut College in three sets at home last Saturday, lost the opening set to their NESCAC rival today 25-19. However, the Jumbos stormed back to take three straight by 25-23, 25-22, and 25-23 scores to advance to the final. Against Williams, which was making its first MIT Invitational championship appearance since 2003, Tufts went extra to win the first set 26-24 and then closed out their title run with 25-21 and 25-20 wins.

Kuan joined the 30-digs club with an impressive 36 in three sets against Williams. The Jumbos played well defensively against the Ephs, with junior Dena Feiger (Long Grove, IL) contributing 20 digs. The offense was led by 10 kills apiece from Helgeson and sophomore Lexi Nicholas (San Diego, CA). Feiger had 35 assists.

Against the Camels, Helgeson was phenomenal on attack with 15 kills and just two errors in 40 attempts. Junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, NV) also reached double-digits with 12 kills. Junior Nancy Shrodes (Manhattan Beach, CA) added three aces to the offense. The defense was paced by Kuan's 19 digs and four blocks by Nicholas.

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