Teams: Volleyball: Schedule & Results

JUMBOS ROLL PAST ENDICOTT COLLEGE IN THREE SETS

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 3, Endicott 0  (25-21, 25-17, 25-21)

At Beverly, MA
Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Match Statistics

Junior Caitlin Updike continued to contribute all over the court for the Jumbos

BEVERLY -- Junior Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA) had 13 kills with just one error in 29 attempts for a .414 hitting percentage that led the Tufts University volleyball team during a three-set victory at Endicott College on Wednesday night. The set scores were 25-21, 25-17, and 25-21.

Endicott opened the night by quickly grabbing a 4-1 lead. The Gulls pushed the advantage to 13-8 as junior Brittany Phillips (Sudbury, MA) 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 Updike 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 co-captain Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, CA) and first-year Brittany Neff (Culver City, CA) 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, MA) opened up a 17-13 lead for the guests. The lead went to 20-16 on a Dena Feiger (Long Grove, IL) ace, before Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) closed the night with an ace of her own on the near side for the 25-21 win.

The Jumbos improved to 22-2 with their third straight victory. Junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, NV) added 12 total kills to the Tufts attack. Feiger, the senior co-captain, accumulated 40 assists in the three sets. The Jumbos had eight aces on the evening. Helgeson continued her fine defensive play for the Jumbos with 13 digs. Updike added 13 digs to her all-around game.

Endicott got nine kills from senior Steph Wiese (Higganum, CT). Brittany Phillips and Elyse Barbour (Greenville, RI) each had eight kills while Ally Murphy (Gilford, NH) and Mollie Postma (Everett, WA) had 11 and 12 assists, respectively. Ashley Norley (Sudbury, MA) notched 12 digs in the losing effort.

Tufts next takes the court on Friday evening against Smith College in the Hall of Fame Tournament at 5:00 pm. Endicott returns to action on Saturday when the Gulls host a tri-match with Coast Guard and Connecticut College beginning at 11:00 am.

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