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Box Score 2 Springfield, Mass. - October 10, 2014 - The Springfield College women's volleyball team opened up the Tom Hay Invitational with straight-set victories over Westfield State and No. 11 Clarkson on Friday evening in Blake Arena. With the victories, Springfield has now won its last six matches to improve to 13-4 on the year.
The victory over Clarkson proved to be head coach Moira Long's 100th victory in her fourth season at the helm of the Pride.
Springfield 3, Clarkson 0
The Springfield College women's volleyball team put forth a gritty team effort to topple Clarkson in straight sets in the nightcap. The Pride prevailed by the scores of 25-23, 26-24, 25-22.
The Pride snapped Clarkson's 16-match winning streak as the Golden Knights drop to 20-3 on the season. Clarkson entered the match ranked 11th in the nation in this week's AVCA Division III National Coaches Poll.
Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.) was dominant at the net, posting seven blocks, including four solo blocks, to go along with six kills.
Kelsey McGayhey (Shelter Island, N.Y.) led Springfield with seven kills, hitting .545, while adding five blocks.
Elise Brogan (Andover, Mass.) had five kills and five blocks, and
Meghan Kinee (Williamstown, N.J.) was credited with a match-best 17 digs.
Whitney Miller (Cuba, N.Y.) had 13 digs and 10 assists, and
Marnae Mawdsley (Bolton, Conn.) handed out 15 helpers. The Pride held a 64-42 advantage in digs and outblocked the Golden Knights, 12-4.
Victoria Kirkemo posted a match-high 11 kills, and Evanne Jimenez picked up 15 digs. Lauren Hutchinson stuffed her stat sheet with 23 assists, eight digs, five aces, and two blocks, and Aishvina Arasu chipped in seven kills.
The Pride got off to a great start to begin the match, snagging an 8-3 lead after McGayhey hammered a ball for a cross court kill. The visitors answered back with a 9-2 surge, taking a 12-10 lead on a Kirkemo swing. The Pride responded with four-straight points, using a Hannah Andres (West Barnstable, Mass.) kill around the block to regain a 14-12 lead. The Pride called the only timeout of the game with the score knotted at 19, and out of the break, a solo block from Holt started a 3-0 burst to put the Pride up 22-19. Clarkson benefited from a pair of Pride errors to get within one, only to have a Golden Knight service error and Brogan kill give Springfield set point. The visitors held off two set points before Brogan muscled a kill through the block following a lengthy rally for the 25-23 win.
All told, the opening set featured nine ties and four lead changes, the most of any frame on the night.
Springfield got off to a quick start in the second, going up 4-1 until Clarkson started to find its rhythm, rattling off a 10-2 run to gain an 11-6 cushion. The Golden Knights continued to dictate the set, eventually taking a 21-11 lead on Rachael Aird's kill.
From that point on, Springfield began to chip away, with McGayhey siding out and kickstarting a remarkable 10-1 run. Brogan provided the consistency from the service line in the spurt, and after McGayhey and Holt combined for huge block, Springfield trailed just 22-21. A Mawdsley ace down the line evened things at 23, only to have a service error on the ensuiung point allow Clarkson to earn set point. Rebecca Higgins (Orchard Park, N.Y.) came through in a huge spot, ripping a ball off the Clarkson block, only to have Holt once again come up with a critical solo block for set point. With the set on the line, Miller and Holt delivered a monster double block to complete the comeback win.
Clarkson owned a 15-13 lead midway through the third set before Springfield poured on a 5-0 run, getting kills from Holt and Kerry Purcell (Massapequa, N.Y.), to force the visitors into a timeout. The Golden Knights would get as close as 22-21 on a Aird and Hutchinson block, only to have Brogan side out. After the visitors produced a kill and service error to put Springfield up 24-22, the Pride benefited from the Golden Knights 24th attack error of the evening to complete the win.
Springfield 3, Westfield State 0
The Springfield College women's volleyball team cruised to a three-game sweep over Westfield State in the opening match of the Tom Hay Invitational on Saturday evening.
The Pride improved to 12-4 with its 25-15, 25-17, 25-15 win.
Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.) had a dominant performance as she tallied 14 kills at a .524 clip in the middle to go along with a match-high six blocks. Springfield tied its season-high with 11 team blocks, as both Kelsey McGayhey (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Rebecca Higgins (Orchard Park, N.Y.) each had three blocks. Marnae Mawdsley (Bolton, Conn.) totaled 25 assists and Whitney Miller (Cuba, N.Y.) had two of Springfield's 10 aces. Defensively, Meghan Kinee (Williamstown, N.J.) was credited with a match-high 16 digs.
For Westfield, Victoria Sutphen paced the way with nine kills and nine digs, while Kendyl Haney had seven kills on 17 errorless attempts. Courtney Ryan picked up 17 assists as the Owls were held to a .043 hitting percentage for the match.
Springfield opened up a 10-5 lead to begin the match after McGayhey put away an overpass kill. Westfield's Sarah Green delivered one of her two aces on the night to get the visitors within 12-9, but the Pride answered with three-straight points to push its lead to 15-9. Holt was too much in the middle as she racked up five kills in the frame to lead the Pride to a 25-15 win.
The Pride had a great start to the second frame, snagging a 14-5 advantage following an Amanda Palladino (Cheshire, Conn.) kill. Westfield mounted a furious rally, taking advantage of Springfield's sloppy offensive play, to get within 14-13 on a Sutphen kill. Elise Brogan (Andover, Mass.) stemmed the tides with a sideout kill and teamed with Higgins for a block to put the hosts up 16-13. Holt then took over the match with four kills and two blocks down the stretch to give Springfield a 25-17 win.
Another Green ace put Westfield up 6-4 to begin the third set, but a 7-1 spurt capped off by a Holt and Hannah Andres (West Barnstable, Mass.) block forced the Owls into a timeout trailing 11-7. After having its lead dwindle to 14-12, Miller came off the bench to lead Springfield to victory. The senior keyed a 6-0 run, totaling two aces and guiding the Pride to a .393 hitting percentage in the game that led to the 25-15 win.
2014 Tom Hay Invitational
Springfield 3, Westfield State 0
Springfield 3, Clarkson 0
Vassar 3, Westfield State 0
