MEDFORD, MA (November 20, 2025) -- The No. 14 Tufts University volleyball team took care of business in the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament First Round inside Cousens Gymnasium Thursday evening, topping Bridgewater State University in three sets with scores of 25-16, 25-10 and 25-13.
The Jumbos (23-5), who are seeded No. 2 in the NCAA Regional in Medford, will now take on No. 3 seed Kean University Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the second of two semifinals tomorrow. Top-seed East Texas Baptist University knocked off Maine Maritime Academy and will take on No. 4 seeded Emory University at 4:30 p.m. in the opening Second Round match.
Tufts got a match-high 10 kills from sophomore
Maiwenn Kamdje, who hit .450 for the match to go with two blocks. Junior outside hitter
Claire Castor added nine kills and six digs as well for the Jumbos, who hit a robust .372 for the match offensively. It was a season-high hitting percentage for Tufts in the win, while the nine errors were the second-fewest on the season.
After trailing early 2-0 in the opening set, Tufts turned it on and scored nine of the next 10 points to take a 9-3 edge. The lead would continue to swell in the frame for the Jumbos, posting a match-best 16 kills in the stanza to take a 1-0 lead. In the second set, Tufts was clinical at the net attacking, hitting .458 on 24 attempts while going 10-of-11 on side-out opportunities to double the match lead.
In the third set, Tufts used an 8-0 run to open up a 10-8 lead to pull away for the victory.
The win in the NCAA Tournament for the Jumbos was their first since the 2022 season, when Tufts also hosted the NCAA Regional and knocked off Babson College 3-2 to get to the Regional Final that year.
Junior
Emma Heckman was very efficient in her attacking Thursday, needing just 11 attempts to get to seven kills, hitting .545 in the process. Senior
Emma Norman tacked on five kills and two digs, while
Akpevwe Akpoigbe had four kills and two assisted blocks.
Rianna Liu recorded 17 assists, three aces and nine digs for the Jumbos, and
Ellery Clark also had 13 helpers and two of the eight service aces for the hosts.
Matsa Shi also had 10 digs, as the Jumbos outscored BSU 53-23 on the night.
The Bears were led by the nine terminations from Lily Welch, and Natalie Fredriksen had six assists and six digs for Bridgewater State.
Tufts is in its 13th NCAA Tournament under head coach
Cora Thompson, and will for its fourth NCAA Regional appearance Friday. The 23 wins are also the most in a season since 2022.
--JUMBOS--
