Teams: Volleyball: Schedule & Results

TUFTS DEFEATS SMITH IN GOLD BRACKET AT HALL OF FAME INVITATIONAL

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL FINAL SCORE
Hall of Fame Invitational
Tufts 3, Smith 1  (25-11, 17-25, 26-24, 25-12)

At Northampton, MA
Friday, October 23, 2009

Match Statistics

First-year Brittany Neff was in on seven blocks for the Jumbos

NORTHAMPTON -- The Tufts University volleyball team opened play at the 2009 Hall of Fame Invitational with a 3-1 victory at Smith College on Friday night. Coach Cora Thompson's team, annual participants in the tournament, improved to 23-2 overall.

The Jumbos will play MIT in the Gold Bracket semi-finals on Saturday at noon, again at Smith College. The Engineers defeated Brandeis University in five sets on Friday night. The winner will advance to the tournament championship match on Saturday at 4:00 pm. Williams and Amherst play in the other semi-final on Saturday at noon.

Tufts is the top-ranked team at the tournament as the #1 seed in the Gold Bracket. After beating Smith by 14 in the first set (25-11), the Jumbos lost the second set 25-17 to the Pioneers. The third set went extra, with Tufts winning 26-24. The Jumbos regrouped and finished it off easily 25-12 in the fourth set. The host Pioneers, whose record dropped to 6-15, are the #8 seed in the Gold Bracket.

Junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, NV) had 12 kills to lead Tufts, backed up by eight from senior co-captain Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, CA). Junior Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA) served four aces for the offense. On defense, the Jumbos did a good job at the net with first-year Brittany Neff (Culver City, CA) assisting on seven blocks and junior co-captain Dena Feiger (Long Grove, IL) assisting five. Feiger also led the Jumbos with 22 digs, followed by 17 from sophomore Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA).

Laurel Belton (San Bernadino, CA) led Smith with 24 digs and six service aces, while Courtney Faria (Pocasset, MA) and Lauren Martinez (Phoenix, AZ) combined for 28 assists. Senior defensive specialist Brianne Connizzo (Demarest, NJ) added 19 digs with two service aces in the loss.

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