The team also competed Tuesday night against Tuft University. After winning their first match, the Judges fell to Tufts as they rallied to a 3-1 victory. Two of the matches were very close and the Judges had individual standouts. Shannon Trees 08 had a team leading 39 digs in the four game exhibition and Piera Carfagno 10 had 3 block assist and 15 kills. Teammate Ashley Powers 08 led the team with four blocks this Tuesday.
The loss follows a 2-2 split at the Crabtree Invitational last weekend at Eastern Connecticut State College. The Judges were able to beat Johnson and Wales University in the second day of competition in a 3-0 match, avenging a previous loss to that squad but were defeated by hosts Eastern Connecticut State University with a score of 3-1 at the end of the tournament. Rookie standout middle blocker Piera Carfagno 10 was named to second team All-Tournament, her second citation for the season. The Judges won all three of their matches by at least a 6 point margin but the Womens volleyball team was not able to keep the winning streak going. The team was only able to win one of the sets during the match with close calls for some of the other volleys.
Many individuals stood out for their performances at the tournament. Violette Ruggiero 09 led the team in assists during their second day of competition with 41 against Johnson and Whales and 26 against ECSU. Bridget McAllister 10 and Piera Carafango 10 both scored 12 kills in single matches.
The volleyball team members had much to say about their recent tournament. Junior Ashley Powers 08 said that the team was inconsistent and ECSU was on top of their game. She went on to say that that the squad will definitely get better for later matches in the season. Rookie Liana Chen 10 also had comments about their recent competition. We played at a really high level during the tournament quoted Chen. And we know that we can go even further in coming games.
The Judges will compete this coming weekend October 14th and 15th at the UAA championships at the University of Chicago. They then have a series of matches toward the end of this month and early November before finishing out the season. Their tournament play this weekend, their match against Tufts, and their continued optimism bring high hope for these Judges as they face more difficult competitions in the coming weeks.
