Potsdam, N.Y. - November 13, 2015 - Thanks to a gritty team effort, the Springfield College women's volleyball team defeated The College at Brockport in straight sets in the NCAA Division III Championship Regional Semifinals on Saturday afternoon in Alumni Gymnasium on the campus of Clarkson University.

The Pride won by the set scores of 25-20, 25-21, 25-23 and advances to the NCAA Division III Championship Sweet 16 for the third time in the past six years.  Springfield will play for the regional championship on Sunday against the winner of the Clarkson/Ithaca match.

Going up against a squad that had lost a total of just eight sets the entire year, the Pride show resolve and toughness in each set, closing out both the second and third set on impressive runs.  Springfield is now 31-3, while Brockport had its 24-match winning streak snapped and concludes its season with a 34-2 record.

Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.) led the Pride with eight kills, hitting .500, to go along with a five blocks, while Kayleigh Helgesen (Oceanside, Calif.) totaled seven kills, at a.429 clip, and four blocks.  Marnae Mawdsley (Bolton, Conn.) and Molly Giannattasio (East Lyme, Conn.) combined to hand out 32 assists as the Pride, which entered the match with the nation's top team hitting percentage, posted a .280 percentage in the win.

Hannah Lozano (Stockton, Calif.) registered a team-best 13 digs, and Elise Brogan (Andover, Mass.) recorded five blocks and five kills on eight errorless attempts.

In the opening set, Springfield jumped out to a 9-5 lead after a block by Brogan and Kelsey McGayhey (Shelter Island, N.Y.).  The Golden Eagles answered with a 8-3 burst of their own to gain a 13-12 advantage, only to have Springfield benefit from a trio of Helgesen kills to open up a 19-14 cushion.  Brockport would get as close as three on three different occasions, but two critical kills from Hayley Kmetz (Ardsley, N.Y.) down the strech sealed the 25-20 first set win.  Helgesen had four of her seven kills in the frame and Springfield benefited from 11 Golden Eagle hitting errors, while hitting a match-best .320 in the stanza.

Springfield dug themselves an 11-7 deficit in the second set, but put together a 6-0 run with Lozano at the service line to regain a 13-11 lead.  The teams traded points until the Golden Eagles eventually took a 21-19 lead.  Brogan then took over the match as she sided out with a kill in the middle and combined with Jennifer Hurwitz (Longmeadow, Mass.) for a block to knot things at 21 apiece.  A Kerry Purcell (Massapequa, N.Y.) service ace forced Brockport into a timeout, and Brogan and McGayhey posted a huge block out of the break.  Another Brogan kill and Purcell ace completed the 6-0 burst as the Pride took the frame, 25-21.  Holt had five kills in the set for the Pride, which hit .281 and tallied 15 kills.

In a back-and-forth start of the third that featured 10 ties, Brockport broke away from a 12-11 lead with a 5-1 run to snag a 17-13 advantage.  A huge stuff from Brogan and McGayhey brought Springfield within 17-16, but the Golden Eagles once again responded with a 5-0 push and appeared set to push the match to a fourth set holding a 22-17 lead.  However, Springfield closed out the match on a remarkable 8-1 surge that started with kills from McGayhey and Rebecca Higgins (Orchard Park, N.Y.).  After consecutive errors by Brockport, Holt and McGayhey combined for a stuff to knot things at 22-all.  A sideout kill from Brockport stemmed the tide, but a kill from McGayhey and back-to-back blocks by Holt and Helgesen sealed the Pride's spot in the Sweet 16.  Four different players had at least two kills in the set for Springfield, while Holt anchored the defense with three blocks.