Springfield, Mass. – October 21, 2008 – The Springfield College womenÂ's volleyball team won its ninth match in a row and stayed undefeated in league play as it downed the visiting Smith Pioneers in three games on Tuesday evening in New England WomenÂ's and MenÂ's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action.
The Pride swept the match by the game scores of 25-13, 25-15, 25-14.
With the win, Springfield improves to 23-4, 7-0 in league play, while the Pioneers fall to 11-14, 4-3.
The Pride never allowed Smith to get into an offensive rhythm as the home squad was terrific from behind the service line in the match.
Springfield jumped out to an early 9-5 lead after a kill from Sarah Lang-Rodean (Mansfield Center, Conn.), which forced a Smith timeout. The Pioneers battled back to make it a 13-10 game, before the Pride rattled off 13 of the next 14 points to take a commanding 23-11 lead. In the run, Kelsea Hellyar (Fairhaven, Mass.) notched three service aces to pace the Pride attack.
In the second game, SpringfieldÂ's offense was clicking as it hit an impressive .424, notching 16 kills on 33 attempts. Once again, Springfield used a spurt to wrap up the game as it rattled off an 11-5 run en route to the 25-15 victory. Lang-Rodean and Heather Lively (Royalston, Mass.) were unstoppable in game two, each recording six kills on nine swings, hitting .667.
In the final game of the match, the Pride raced out to a 10-3 lead after a kill from Bethany Stosz (Amherst, Mass.) and never looked back as it picked up the 25-14 victory. The Pride held the Pioneers to a -.081 hitting percentage in the third stanza, as Smith managed just five kills as a team.
Lively was the lone player in the match with double-digit kills as she finished with 11, hitting .375. Lang-Rodean notched eight, as did Kim Giaquinto (Massapequa, N.Y.). Stosz added five kills and four blocks, while Aylene Ilkson (Baldwin, N.Y.) led the defensive effort with 12 digs to go along with six kills. Heidi Yohe (Deer Park, Wash.) added 11 digs, and Hellyar finished with 33 assists as she directed SpringfieldÂ's offense on the night.
Smith was paced by Courtney ParkerÂ's five kills, while Rachel Lackert registered a team-best eight digs. Lauren Martinez handed out 11 assists in the loss.
The Pride will now prepare for a big weekend as it enters the Volleyball Hall of Fame Classic as the No. 2 seed. Springfield will square off against Bowdoin at 5:00 pm at Smith College.
