SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The fifth-seeded Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team fell to the number four seed Tufts University Friday evening in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Volleyball Springfield Regional by a 2-3 score (25-18, 20-25, 25-12, 18-25, 12-15).

The loss for the Hawks closes out the season for Roger Williams, as the team finishes with an overall record of 28-4. Tufts moves on to face top-seeded Springfield College, who defeated the number eight seed Westfield State College earlier in the evening, Saturday evening in the regional semifinals.

A service error by the Jumbos began the regional quarterfinal, giving RWU the first point of the match. The Hawks would score the first three points of the match when a dig attempt ricocheted off the rafters above, dropping the ball in a spot that no one could reach. The Hawks would still go on to take a 7-1 lead, eventually stretching it to 10-2 on a dig by Kelsey Twarog (Barkhamsted, Conn.) that went over the net and found its way to the floor of the back row. Tufts crept back into the game, pulling to within four (14-18), yet the Hawks closed the set on a 7-4 run. Marliu Gonzalez-Yanez (Los Angeles, Calif.) put away the final point off of a stellar dig by Danna McDonald (Santa Monica, Calif.) to give RWU the 25-18 win.

After the Jumbos took the first point of the set, the Hawks would tie it at two, with Kelsee Loche (Millis, Mass.) making a one-armed dig to lead to a McDonald kill. RWU would take a 9-8 lead on a kill by Marybeth Torpey (Quincy, Mass.) followed by a McDonald ace to cause the Jumbos to take a timeout. Both teams would go back and forth, with an ace by Gonzalez-Yanez ultimately giving RWU a 20-19 lead. Yet Tufts ended the set with six straight points to win 25-20 and tie the match at one.

The Hawks would control the third set, with a heads-up kill by Krystie Luczynski on a second touch, putting RWU up 8-3. A pair of kills by Luczynski followed by back-to-back aces by McDonald gave RWU a commanding 19-4 lead. Tufts would respond with an 8-3 run, but the comeback fell short with Natasha Sopchak (Rhinebeck, N.Y.) and Andrea Gorman (Wilbraham, Mass.) blocking the final attempt for the 25-12 win.

The Jumbos grabbed the lead early on in the fourth set, but RWU came back to go on top 8-5, getting the final point on a tip by Emily Lebowitz (Coventry, Conn.) off of a dig by McDonald. The Jumbos would then shut down the Hawk offense, breaking an 8-8 tie with two straight service aces as part of a 10-0 run to go up 15-8. The deficit proved to be too much for the Hawks to overcome. RWU lucked out with a pair of Jumbo attack errors to bring the score to 18-24, but a dig attempt on a Jumbo attack bounced off the rafters and on the court tied the match at two.

A hitting error by RWU gave Tufts the first point of the decisive fifth set. The Hawks notched kills by Luczynski and McDonald that would tie the set at two, but Tufts would roll off four straight points. The teams would switch sides with the Jumbos on top 8-5. Tufts would take a 10-6 lead on miscommunication on the set attempt after a dig by Sopchak. McDonald brought the Hawks to within one (10-11), but Tufts would score the next two for a three-point advantage. Luczynski and Sopchak staved off elimination for a point with a block assist to make it a 12-14 game, but Hayley Hopper of Tufts served a shot into the back row that just landed just inside the line for the match-clinching point.

Luczynski led the Hawks with 18 kills to go along with a pair of blocks. McDonald finished with 13 kills, three aces and ten digs. Gonzalez-Yanez and Loche had 23 and 22 digs, respectively. Torpey finished with eight kills and 16 digs, while Sopchak added six kills and two block assists. Lebowitz handed out a match-best 41 assists.