Hope survives over Tufts

Hope got by Tufts, 3-1, in the second quarterfinal match of the day. Plenty of errors of every variety in this one between two first-time Elite 8 teams. Not the prettiest match, but the heavily favored Flying Dutch did enough to advance. Wouldn’t surprise me if there were 80 combined errors (no joke) – attack, net, doubles, receive, service, you name it. The Hope passing was spotty at best, but when All-American setter Andrea Helminiak got a pass, it was usually a Hope hitting line. That didn’t happen often, but Jacie Fiedler, Sara DeWeerdt, Kara VandeGutche had a nice hitting days. Fiedler, a D-I transfer after starring at DePaul, took over Set 4.

Tufts showed it could compete with Hope in Set 3, thanks in part to shaky play by the Dutch, who had trouble closing out sets. The Jumbos shook off five match points before winning Set 3, 31-29, on their first set point. Tufts OH Dawson Joyce-Mendive and MH Brittany Neff willed the Jumbos all match. Joyce-Mendive may make the all-tournament team despite her team going one-and-done. She finished with about 21 kills on about 45 swings (could be off by a few).

No. 6 Hope (34-3) plays No. 4 Wash U (32-4) tomorrow at 3:30 (central).

The next match is No. 1 Juniata vs. No. 18 Trinity at 4:30-ish (central). Could be a good one.

-Ricky Nelson