Springfield, Mass. - October 24, 2017 - The Springfield College women's volleyball team was swept by visiting Wheaton College in its home finale on Tuesday night, as it dropped the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest by the scores of 25-22, 25-10, 25-20. 

Wheaton improved to 22-8, 6-3 in conference play, while the Pride's record dropped to 14-12, 4-5. 

Bridget Walsh (Garrison, N.Y.) had seven kills at .357 clip for the hosts, while Jen Donnelly (Exeter, R.I.) totaled 12 digs and six kills.  Anagabrielle Sanchez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) added 11 digs as Springfield was held to a season-low .026 team hitting percentage.

For Wheaton, six different players had at least four kills as Becca Houghton directed a balanced attack with 26 assists, 10 digs, and five blocks.  Cathryn MacGregor racked up 14 digs and eight kil and Stephanie Martin chipped in 13 digs.

After Walsh terminated her third kill of the early going to pull Springfield within 8-7, the Lyons responded with four-straight points to force the hosts into a timeout.  Springfield would climb within 15-14 following a Wheaton miscue, but a 3-0 surge by the visitors put them back in control at 18-14 as the Pride burned another timeout.   Out of the break, the Lyons committed three-straight attack errors, calling for a timeout of their own.  However, Springfield committed service errors on three instances when it was within a point of tying down the stretch as Wheaton held on for the 25-22 win.  Donnelly had four kills in the frame for the Pride. 

Wheaton stormed out to a 6-1 lead in the second set and never looked back as it coasted its way to a 25-10 win. In the third, Rebecca Higgins (Orchard Park, N.Y.) ripped a ball down the line to give the Pride a 10-8 cushion in the third, but a 7-3 surge, capped off by a Wheaton block made it 15-13 in favor of the visitors as the Pride called for a timeout. The Lyons pushed their advantage to 23-17 and finished off the sweep on Houghton's fourth kill of the evening. 

The Pride will play its final game of the regular season on Saturday when it travels to Boston to face Emerson for a 1 pm contest.