Springfield, Mass.- September 20, 2014- Junior right side Kelsey McGayhey (Shelter Island, N.Y.) registered 12 kills at a .308 clip to power the Springfield College women's volleyball team to a four-set victory over MIT in a critical early-season New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup in Blake Arena on  Saturday afternoon.

The Pride won by the set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-21 to improve to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in NEWMAC play on the season. The loss was just MIT's second of the year as they now stands at 12-2, 1-1.

The win served as a career milestone for head coach Moira Long, who picked up her 400th career victory. In her fourth season with the Pride, Long previously spent 13 years on the sidelines at Plymouth State and one year at Dickinson.

McGayhey was followed by the strong play of junior middle blocker Elise Brogan (Andover, Mass.) who finished the afternoon with 10 kills, complimented by an outstanding hitting percentage of .562.

Senior setter  Whitney Miller (Cuba, N.Y) directed the offense with 23 assists and 10 digs, while setter Marnae Mawdsley (Bolton, Conn.) chipped in 17 assists and eight digs of her own in the victory.  Defensively, Meghan Kinee (Williamstown, N.J.) tallied 19 digs on the afternoon.

After MIT took the first set, 25-20, behind the play of Megan Gebhard (Howell, Mich.), who recorded five kills and two digs, Springfield rallied back and took the second set, 25-23, to even the match score at one game apiece.

In the crucial second set, the Pride found themselves down 17-13 following a kill from Nicole Gagnier (Atlanta, Ga.) Springfield crawled back into the set, sparked by a pair of kills from sophomore outside hitter Francesca Mack (Amston, Conn.) and finishing the 5-1 run with a service ace from Miller to even the score at 18 apiece.

From there, the Pride battled to a 25-23 victory, capped off by a kill from Brogan to seal the second set. McGayhey paced the Pride with a team-high five kills in the set, hitting at a .714 clip.

In the third set, the Pride found itself down 19-15 late in the stanza, but Rebecca Higgins (Orchard Park, N.Y.) sparked the Pride with four kills and a block to take the third set 26-24, claiming the momentum heading into the fourth set.

The fourth set featured 14 times, the last coming when the teams were gridlocked at 18.  However, Springfield poured on a 5-1 run, bolstered by a pair of kills from Higgins, to take a 23-19 lead.  The Engineers were unable to complete the comeback, and a ball handling error on match point allowed the Pride to pick up its first league win of the year.

The Pride will continue league play this Tuesday in Blake Arena as they take on Babson College.