Tufts University's Christina Nwankpa posted 11 kills and five blocks in the Jumbos' three-set NESCAC win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Tufts' Cousens Gym on Friday night.

The set scores were 25-19, 25-15 and 25-7. Hamilton (7-5, 1-2 NESCAC) travels to Bowdoin College for another conference match on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.

The nationally ranked No. 17 Jumbos (13-0, 4-0) hit .412 as a team and boasted eight blocks to the Continentals' two. Tufts closed out Hamilton in the third set with 15 kills and just one error in 25 attempts.

Giuliana Rankin '20 paced the Continentals with nine kills and added a solo block. Rankin is second in the NESCAC with 3.35 kills per set and tied for second with 134 kills. Kendall Boxe '22 chipped in five kills in 11 attempts and owned a .364 hitting percentage. Jo Dine '22 handed out 13 assists and Emma Parkhurst '21 passed out eight. Nikki Matsuoka '21 led all players with 15 digs and is third in the conference with 5.13 digs per set.

Maddie Stewart contributed seven kills and five blocks for the Jumbos. Heather Holz smacked six kills in eight attempts and Rachel Furash dished out 27 assists. Stephanie Lee and Brigid Bell helped lead the defense with 12 digs apiece.

In the first set Hamilton scored the first point but Tufts ran off the next five before the Continentals called a timeout. The Jumbos eventually went up by eight points at 14-6 when Hamilton called its last timeout of the set. The break worked as the Continentals assembled a 6-0 run and pulled within two points at 14-12. The spurt featured a pair of kills by Deirdre Corrigan '23 and a service ace by Kendall Searcy '20. Another kill by Corrigan helped Hamilton cut its deficit to two points again at 19-17, but the Continentals couldn't get any closer.

Rankin hammered two kills early in the second set and Hamilton held a 5-4 edge. Tufts registered the next eight points and the Continentals didn't get within four points the rest of the set. Stewart and Cate Desler clubbed two kills apiece during the set-changing run.

The Jumbos opened the third set with nine consecutive points and quickly closed out the match. The opening run featured four kills by Nwankpa and two each by Desler and Stewart.