Box Score Wellesley, Mass. - October 29, 2016 - The Springfield College women's volleyball team battled to a four-set victory at Wellesley College in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season finale for both teams on Saturday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.
The Pride won by the scores of 25-21, 17-25, 25-13, 25-13.
Springfield, the third-ranked team in New England in the latest NCAA Division III Regional Rankings, is now 26-4 and wraps up the conference schedule with a 9-1 record. Wellesley slides to 12-15 on the year and ends the NEWMAC season with a 5-5 record.
In her final match at Wellesley, senior
Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.) put together one of the finest matches of her career as she tied a career-high with 12 blocks to go along with 11 kills which came at a .400 clip. Junior
Kayleigh Helgesen (Oceanside, Calif.) tied for match-high honors with 17 kills while hitting .382 and sophomore
Hayley Kmetz (Ardsley, N.Y.) added 13. Springfield hit .282 as a team, with Holt, Helgesen and Kmetz all finishing above .300 while senior setter
Marnae Mawdsley (Bolton, Conn.) racked up 39 assists to go along with 18 digs. First-year
Anagabrielle Sanchez (Caugas, Puerto Rico) led all players with 21 digs and sophomore
Hannah Lozano (Stockton, Calif.) chipped in from the service line with three aces. As a team, Springfield tied its season-best total of 16.0 team blocks.
After a solo block by Holt capped off a 5-0 run by the visitors to give Springfield a 6-3 lead in the first, Wellesley responded with a 8-1 push as the Pride committed five early attack errors. The Blue's lead would grow to 14-9, but Springfield answered back with an 11-3 run to open up a 20-17 lead after
Jennifer Donnelly (Exeter, R.I.) blasted a kill as the Blue burned its final timeout. Springfield would eventually seal the 25-21 win as Helgesen hammered her sixth kill of the set off the Wellesley block.
Wellesley jumped out to a 6-0 advantage to start the second set as the Pride committed four attack errors on its first five swings. Tough serving from Lozano brought the Pride back within 8-7, but the Blue pushed their lead back to 16-11 following three-consecutive Springfield miscues. The Pride would get no closer as three and Wellesley evened the match at a set apiece with a 25-18 win. Springfield was held to a .029 hitting percentage in the set.
Springfield's block came alive at the beginning of the third set, and a stuff from Kmetz and Jamie Schneck (Livingston, N.J.) put the visitors ahead 8-3. The Pride's built its lead to 12-5 when Holt and Donnelly elevated for a huge block and forced the Blue into a timeout at 21-12 following their the hosts eighth attack error of the frame. Holt delivered her eighth block of the afternoon to wrap up the 25-13 win for Springfield, which was bolstered by a .438 team hitting percentage in the set.
Even at seven-all in the fourth, the Pride gained some breathing room with a 4-1 surge capped off by a block from Kmetz and Schneck. Out of a Wellesley timeout, the Pride's ended the match on a 14-6 run for its second-straight 25-13 set victory. Springfield's offense hit at a .471 clip, while it's defense held the Blue to a -.036 hitting percentage as Holt totaled four blocks.
