BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Tufts University volleyball team defeated Bowdoin in a five-set marathon on Tuesday evening, 3-2, taking a key NESCAC victory in a two-and-a-half hour match at Morrell Gymnasium.

The Jumbos remain perfect in league play and improve to 6-1 overall (3-0 NESCAC). The Polar Bears drop to 5-3 (2-1 NESCAC) with the setback.

Match Highlights

• The first game was emblematic of what was to come all evening as neither squad took more than a one-point lead until a late Bowdoin surge gave the hosts a 26-24 win.
• Tufts battled back in the second, using a 3-0 run late, keyed by a pair of Brigid Bell kills, to take a 25-22 win and even the match at 1-1.
• The Jumbos took the third game by the largest margin of the night, 25-19, as Mackenzie Bright sparked a 5-0 surge for the visitors in the middle of the game to pull ahead.
• Bowdoin rallied to knot the score with a win in the fourth game, jumping to an early seven-point lead only to see the Jumbos rally to tie the score at 17 apiece. A 5-0 Polar Bear run late, however, clinched the win and set up a deciding fifth game.
• With the deciding fifth tied at 5-5, Tufts put the contest out of reach with a 6-0, sparked by three kills from Bell to take a commanding 11-5 advantage. Bowdoin tried to close the gap, but could get no closer than four points as the Jumbos sealed the win. Tufts hit at .529% in the fifth game, totaling nine kills and zero errors.

By The Numbers

• Mackenzie Bright led Tufts with 17 kills while Brigid Bell had 14. Bell also had 15 digs for the Jumbos.
• Defensively, Christina Nwankpa had nine blocks while Kelly Klimo collected 24 digs. Rachel Furash had 45 assists and five kills for the Jumbos.
• Caroline Flaharty ended with 15 kills and 15 digs for Bowdoin while Sydney Salle had 10 kills and six solo blocks.
• Kate Kiser dished out 42 assists and Khelsea Gordon ended with seven kills and eight blocks for the Polar Bears. Lisa Sheldon recorded 23 digs.

Up Next

• Bowdoin will head to Kentucky for an out-of-region tournament this weekend - the Transylvania Invitational. The Polar Bears will open against Heidelberg in Lexington, Ky., on Friday evening at 5:00 p.m.