Wellesley, Mass. - November 1, 2014 - In a rematch of last year's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship match, the Springfield College women's volleyball lost in five sets to Wellesley College on Saturday.

The loss snaps the Pride's five-match winning streak as Springfield closed the regular season with a 20-9 record, including a 7-3 mark in conference play.  The Pride entered the match ranked fifth in New England in the latest NCAA Regional rankings.  This marked the third-straight meeting between the Pride and the Blue that went five sets.  The Blue close out their regular season at 16-10 overall and 6-4.

Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.) led Springfield with 16 kills at a .382 clip to go along with a match-high seven blocks, while Kelsey McGayhey (Shelter Island, N.Y.) chipped in 13 kills on a .458 hitting percentage and four blocks.  Marnae Mawdsley (Bolton, Conn.) totaled 48 assists and Whitney Miller (Cuba, N.Y.) led all players with 19 digs.

Wellesley's outside hitting was the difference in the match, as Sydney Carfagno hammered 22 kills and Brooke Fieldman pounded 21. The duo also combined for 25 digs, six blocks, and five aces, for a total of 51.5 points. Caitlin Laughlin tallied 12 kills to go along with five blocks, while Courtney Lang recorded eight kills and four blocks. Rounding out the box for Wellesley, Taylor Jais led the team with 17 digs and Maddie Koh distributed 56 assists in the win.

In the first set, Wellesley broke a 6-all tie, building a three point advantage at 9-6 but the Pride rallied to tie the score again at 10-all as Holt and Rebecca Higgins (Orchard Park, N.Y.) both put down kills. The Blue took a two-point advantage at 15-13 following a kill from Carfagno, carrying the advantage as the score increased to 18-16. Another kill from Holt and a Wellesley error then knotted the score at 19-all. The teams then exchanged points, running the tie score to 23-all before Mawdsley and Holt combined to block Carfagno on the final two plays of the set to give the Pride the 25-23 victory.

Wellesley responded in the second set, earning a 25-21 victory. The Pride took an early 7-3 advantage as Holt put down three early kills. Carfagno and Fieldman then put down kills on either side of a kill from Higgins before back-to-back Springfield errors and an ace from Jais tied the score at 8-all. From there, Springfield took a 15-11 lead thanks to three Blue errors and a kill from McGayhey. With Wellesley trailing again, Carfagno rallied the Blue with a pair of kills to tie the score at 15-all. A kill from Jennifer Hurwitz (Longmeadow, Mass.) broke up the Wellesley run but the Blue continued on to take a 19-16 advantage, leading for the remainder of the set before closing out the win thanks to kills from Koh and Laughlin and a Springfield error.

The next two sets featured a familiar score line, as the Blue took a 25-23 victory in game three before the Pride rallied to take a 25-23 advantage in the fourth game.

Wellesley trailed just twice in the third set, at 8-7— but also at 23-21. With the Blue leading throughout the game, Springfield went on a late 4-0 run to cut a 19-14 deficit to just 19-18. The Pride then took the lead after tying the match as kills from Holt and Francesca Mack (Amston, Conn.) gave Springfield a 23-21 lead. However, Wellesley closed out the victory by earning the final four points of the game.

The Pride held the advantage throughout the fourth set, leading until the Blue closed an 18-12 deficit with a 7-1 run to tie the score at 19-all. Wellesley then took a 21-19 lead, earning a late two-point advantage much like the Pride had in the third game. However, this time it was the Pride's turn to rally for the late victory, scoring six of the final eight points to win 25-23 after McGayhey connected off the Wellesley block.

In the deciding set, the teams exchanged the opening points before Wellesley broke a 5-all tie with a 6-0 run, taking an 11-5 lead. From there, Fieldman and Carfagno combined to finish off the match, scoring the final three points — capped by a solo block from Carfagno

Springfield will host a NEWMAC Championship Quarterfinal match on Tuesday at 7:00 pm in Blake Arena.