South Hadley, Mass. - October 13, 2015 - The Springfield College women's volleyball team eased past Mount Holyoke College in straight sets in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday evening.  The Pride won by the scores of 25-11, 25-13, 25-7.

Springfield has now won 13 matches in a row and is now 22-2 on the year, including a 7-1 mark in league play.

Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.), who came into the match with the most blocks in all of Division III, was dominant as she totaled 10 blocks to go along with a match-high 12 kills at a .588 clip.  Kayleigh Helgesen (Oceanside, Calif.) notched seven blocks and six kills while hitting .600, and Jennifer Hurwitz (Longmeadow, Mass.) was credited with nine digs and seven kills. 

Molly Giannattasio (East Lyme, Conn.) and Marnae Mawdsley (Bolton, Conn.) combined for 24 assists, 19 digs, and six aces in leading Springfield to a .329 hitting percentage.  The Pride currently has the best hitting percentage in Division III volleyball with a .306 team percentage.     

Springfield finished the evening with 14.0 team blocks and 10 service aces as it cruised to the conference win.  Mount Holyoke was limited to a -.076 hitting percentage for the match.

Behind four early aces from Giannattasio, the visiting Pride opened up a 15-4 lead in the opening frame.  Springfield turned to Holt to close out the frame, as the junior middle pounded five kills down the stretch, including back-to-back kills to complete the 25-11 win.

In the second set, Mount Holyoke held an 11-10 advantage, only to have Jamie Schneck (Livingston, N.J.) and Jennifer Donnelly (Exeter, R.I.) each tally a kill and combined for a block to kickstart Springfield's 15-2 surge.  Holt had five blocks in the set, including consecutive stuffs with Helgesen to put the exclamation point on the 25-13 second set win.

Springfield's offense hit .462 in the third set, totaling 12 kills on 26 errorless attempts and put the frame out of reach in a hurry after opening up a 10-0 lead, highlighted by a trio of aces from Hannah Lozano (Stockton, Calif.).  A total of 16 different Springfield players saw action in the match.

Springfield will have a week off before it plays again on Tuesday, Oct. 20 when it hosts WPI for a key-NEWMAC tilt beginning at 7 pm.