Box Score LEWISTON, Maine – After splitting the first two sets, Tufts University volleyball earned decisive wins in sets three and four to defeat Bates College, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-10, 25-7), on Friday night inside Alumni Gymnasium.
The Jumbos (12-6, 4-2 NESCAC) hit a blistering .786 in the final set after hitting .625 in set three while the Bobcats (8-11, 1-4) took the second set behind a .333 hitting percentage. Both teams, in conjunction with the entire NESCAC, participated in the Dig Pink! cause through the match donning special pink warm-ups to help raise awareness for breast cancer.
For the visitors, Isabel Kuhel led all players with 13 kills while Hayley Hopper followed closely with 12 kills. Kyra Baum recorded a match-high 41 assists, and Carolina Berger made a match-best 13 digs. The Jumbos hit .398 as a team in the match.
Sophomore Mary Deneen (Windsor, Conn.) paced the hosts with eight kills while first-years Nicole Peraica (East Northport, N.Y.) and Chandler McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif.) each landed six kills, hitting .286 and .278 respectively.
Junior setters and co-captains Tess Walther (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Miranda Shapiro (New York, N.Y.) posted 19 and 13 assists apiece, and sophomore libero Laryssa Schepel (Flemington, N.J.) tallied a team-high 10 digs.
In set one, the Bobcats used a 4-0 run to take a late 19-17 lead, but the Jumbos responded with an 8-2 run to close the set and take the first game.
The two sides played evenly throughout the second set with neither team holding an edge larger than three after Tufts led 13-9. With the set tied at 20-20, Bates won the next three points including two aces from Schepel and held on to the lead to knot the match at one set apiece.
The Jumbos countered in the third stanza jumping out to leads of 3-0, 10-5, and 20-7 before finishing off the set. For Tufts, Jessica Ingrum posted five kills on nine swings. The final set ran on a similar script as the visitors gained advantages of 6-0 and 20-4 on the way to the set and match victory.
Next, Bates hosts Connecticut College tomorrow at 2 p.m. in another Dig Pink! match.
