Wellesley Volleyball Tops Tufts, 3-1; Webb Now One Win Shy of 600

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College volleyball dropped a tight first set before rallying to win three straight sets and the match, 3-1 (27-29, 25-23, 26-24, 25-16) versus Tufts University in non-conference action on Wednesday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. With the win, the Blue are 10-0 overall and Head Coach Dorothy Webb is now one win shy of 600 career victories. 

Senior Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) finished with a match-high 22 kills and five block assists to lead Wellesley. First year Nicole Doerges (San Marino, Calif.) totaled 16 kills on 41 attempts and finished one dig shy of a double-double with nine. Sophomore Becca Aristotelidis (San Antonio, Texas) racked-up a season-high 20 digs and six of Wellesley's 13 service aces. Senior setter Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) tallied 49 assists and six digs.

Senior Mackenzie Bright (Duxbury, Mass.) and junior Maddie Stewart (Menlo Park, Calif.) each tallied 11 kills to lead the Jumbos (7-6 overall). Junior Rachel Furash (Westlake Village, Calif.) finished with a team-best 33 assists, while adding four kills, five digs and a pair of aces. Junior Madison Clay (Santa Clara, Calif.) had 12 digs to lead Tufts, who also got nine digs from junior Brigid Bell (Granite Bay, Calif.) and six digs from sophomore Sophia Acker (La Jolla, Calif.).

The Jumbos outlasted the Blue in a marathon opening set, taking a 1-0 advantage in the match when a Blue error and a Tufts kill by Cate Desler (Hillsborough, Calif.) broke a 27-all deadlock and gave the visitors the 29-27 win. Wellesley opened the next frame on a 6-1 run, but a 7-0 Tufts run quickly erased the lead and saw the visitors pull ahead again, 8-6. The teams battle back and forth for the second straight game but this time the Blue seized the late advantage as a pair of kills from Reece secured a 25-23 Wellesley win to tie the match.

Wellesley jumped out to a 16-10 lead in game three but again saw the Jumbos fight back to take the lead. Stewart capped a 7-1 Tufts run with a kill that made the score 18-17 Jumbos. Wellesley then rallied back to take leads of 20-18 and 23-21 but Tufts tied the set at 23-all on a kill from Desler. However, two kills from Reece and a Jumbos error would give the game to the Blue, 26-24.

Wellesley would put the match away in the fourth game. Trailing 8-7, the Blue scored 11 of the next 12 points in the set to take a 17-9 lead. The run included six Blue aces, three each from Aristotelidis and junior Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.). Wellesley never trailed after that, closing out a 25-16 win.

Wellesley will travel to New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival Springfield on Saturday at 1:00 PM. Tufts is on the road for conference action on Friday at 7:30 PM.