Northampton, Mass. - October 3, 2017 - The Springfield College women's volleyball team put together its best offensive performance in nearly a month and produced a season-best 17 service aces in a three-set sweep over Smith on Tuesday in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) showdown.  The Pride won by the scores of 25-13, 25-13, 25-18.

Springfield snapped its two-game slide to improve to 11-4, 3-3 in conference play with the win.  As a team, the Pride hit at a .371 clip, its third-best outing of the season and best showing since it hit .412 on September 2 versus Rivier.  The Pride was especially impressive from the end line, tallying 17 aces in the contest. 

Individually, Jen Donnelly (Exeter, R.I.) and Hayley Kmetz (Ardsley, N.Y.) each had seven kills, while Daniela Detore (Lake Grove, N.Y.) and Kayley Cimino (Cumberland, Maine) were credited with 13 assists apiece.  Katie vonKampen (South Setauket, N.Y.) racked up six service aces, and Hannah Lozano (Stockton, Calif.) chipped in a match-high 10 digs and four aces.  Additionally, Springfield's middles of Camryn Bancroft (Eastport, N.Y.) and Bridget Walsh (Garrison, N.Y.) combined for 11 kills on a .667 hitting percentage, with Bancroft posting a match-high four blocks.

 Donnelly and Kmetz combined for seven of Springfield's nine kills in the first set, while Lozano was dominant from the end line, producing four of the Pride's six service aces.  With Springfield leading 13-10 early in the frame, the visitors rattled off six-straight points to take a commanding nine-point advantage.  The Pride's defense limited Smith to just three kills in the stanza and the Pioneers fifth attack error of the match gave Springfield the 25-13 win.

Thanks to some outstanding serving from vonKampen to start the second set, Springfield used a 10-1 surge to earn an 11-3 advantage.  Kayleigh Helgesen (Oceanside, Calif.) ripped one of her three kills in the set to force the Pioneers into a timeout at 17-5 and the Pride cruised to a 25-13 win as it closed out the set with 11 kills at a .429 hitting percentage. 

The third set featured five ties, the last coming at eight-all before a side-out kill by Walsh kickstarted a 10-3 run to push the Pride's advantage to 18-11.  Walsh keyed the surge with a pair of aces, while Bancroft chipped in a pair of kills for a Springfield team that hit .476 in the set.  Smith would get as close as four, only to have Kmetz crush her seventh kill of the match to complete the 25-18 win.

Springfield will return to Blake Arena this weekend when it hosts Westfield State and Roger Williams starting at 11 am.