Springfield, Mass. – November 4, 2008 – Powered by the duo of Heather Lively and Sarah Lang-Rodean, the Springfield College womenÂ's volleyball team cruised to a three-game win over the visiting Clark Cougars in a quarterfinal matchup in the New England WomenÂ's and MenÂ's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) WomenÂ's Volleyball Tournament.
The Pride, who entered the tournament as the top seed, won by the game scores of 25-13, 25-11, 25-14.
Springfield has now won 15 matches in a row and improve to 29-4. ClarkÂ's season comes to a close with an 11-14 mark.
The Pride return to action on Friday evening as it serves as hosts for the semifinals and finals of the NEWMAC Tournament. The Pride, will take on Coast Guard, who defeated Smith in three games to advance. First serve is slated for 5:00 pm on Friday night.
In the opening game, the home squad jumped out to a 12-4 lead, fueled by a pair of aces from Meaghan Hart. The PrideÂ's offense was clicking for the get go, as Springfield notched 14 kills in the opening game, hitting .346 as a team. Clark was limited to just five kills, three coming from Parker Edmonds.
The Pride continued to set the tone in the second game as it rattled off the first nine points of the game to grab a commanding 9-0 lead. The Cougars battled back, cutting it to seven at 16-9, but Springfield was too strong down the stretch. The home squad ended the game on a 5-0 run, with Kelsea Hellyar serving a pair of aces to guide the Pride. Lively really picked up her game in the second stanza as she hammered out seven kills while hitting .417 for the game.
In the final game, both teams traded points to start the frame before Amira Tranchell gave Clark the lead at 6-5. From that point on, Springfield won the next five points, as service aces proved to be the difference in the game. Aylene Ilkson provided a pair for Springfield as it claimed an 11-6 lead, forcing a Clark timeout. Much was the same the rest of the way, as Springfield closed out the match on a 6-0 run. Pacing Springfield in the run was Lively, who added three kills, while Aidan Tousey closed out the game with SpringfieldÂ's 11th service ace of the match.
Lang-Rodean was spectacular out of the middle for the Pride as she registered 12 kills on 13 attempts for a sensational .923 hitting percentage. Lively finished with a match-high 18 kills in just three games, hitting .375 for the match. Directing the offense to a .326 hitting clip as a team was Hellyar, who handed out 36 assists in the win. Ilkson led the defense charge with 14 digs and three aces, while Heidi Yohe added 10 digs of her own. Hart came off the bench to notch nine digs and three aces as well. 15 different players saw action on the court in the game for head coach Joel Dearing.
For the Cougars, Edmonds had an impressive evening as she recorded a team-best seven kills, hitting .700 for the match. Emily Visone added six digs in the loss.
