NORTON, Mass. – September 16, 2008- The Springfield College women’s volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 victory (25-9, 25-23, 25-10) on the road at Wheaton College Tuesday night during each team’s New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener at Emerson Gymnasium.
 The Lyons dropped their seventh straight match to fall to 2-9, while the Pride extended its winning streak to three in improving to 8-1.
 Springfield jetted out to an 18-4 lead in the opening set before closing things out by scoring seven of 12 points, including the winner on a Wheaton service error.
 The Lyons controlled set two early, securing an 11-2 lead, capped by back-to-back kills from junior Lauren Kraus (Westboro, Mass.) and sophomore Becca Rose (Sudbury, Mass.) , but the Pride used a 12-5 run to get back to within two before catching up and slowly pulling away.  With the score knotted at 21, Springfield sophomore Heather Lively (Royalston, Mass.) dropped down consecutive kills to make it 23-21.  Clinging to a 24-23 lead, the Pride picked up the winner on a Lively kill.
 The final set was a tight affair in the early going, as the score was tied at six, but the visitors rattled off 10 of the next 11 points to take a commanding 16-7 advantage.  Springfield finished the match on a 9-3 run, capped by a kill from freshman Kim Giaquinto (Massapequa , N.Y.).
 Kraus paced Wheaton’s attack with six kills, and senior Liana Merrill (Northwood, N.H.) provided five kills to go along with five digs and two service aces.  Rose finished with 15 assists, while sophomore Kristen Hunt ( Milford , Conn.) and freshman Emily Davisson ( Carpinteria , Calif.) totaled 10 and seven digs, respectively.
 Senior Aylene Ilkson ( Baldwin , N.Y.) was one kill shy of a double-double with nine and a team-best 13 digs to lead Springfield .  Lively posted eight kills, Giaquinto notched seven, while sophomore setter Kelsea Hellyar ( Fairhaven , Mass. ) finished with 33 assists.  Senior Heidi Yohe ( Deer Park , Wash.) added eight digs and five aces.
The Pride look to continue its winning ways when it travels for a key conference matchup at Wellesley on Saturday afternoon.
