New London, Conn. - October 18, 2022- The Springfield College women's volleyball team bounced back after dropping the opening set to knock off Coast Guard in four sets in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday night.  The Pride won by the scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-13. 

It marked the Pride's eighth-consecutive win as it improved to 16-4, 6-3 in conference play.  The Bears record now stands at 16-6, 4-4. 

Springfield's defense held the Bears to a .051 hitting percentage on the night as  Ally Townsend (Hummelstown, Pa.) registered 27 digs and Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) was credited with six blocks to go along with her nine kills in the middle.  Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) led all players with 13 kills and added seven digs, three blocks, and three aces, while Megan Kirtyan (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) handed out 32 assists to go along with her eight digs, three kills and two aces. 

Coast Guard raced out to a 14-7 lead in the opening set, but Springfield would respond with a 6-1 push as the hosts called for a timeout.  The Bears would regain a 21-17 edge before Springfield scored the next four points, with a Kirtyan kill knotting things up at 21 apiece.  However, Coast Guard answered with a 3-0 burst and held on for the 25-23 win.

An ace from Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) allowed Springfield to gain a 12-8 lead in the second and a kill in transition from Jamie Albrecht (Selden, N.Y.) forced the Bears into their second timeout of the stanza trailing 17-13.  The hosts scored the next three points to get as close as they would get, as a Donahue ace would later push Springfield's lead back to 20-16.  Donahue then connected on her only kill of the set for the 25-22 win, as despite only having six kills in the set, Springfield was able to take advantage of a combined 15 attack and service errors by the Bears to even the match up at 1-1. 

Springfield seized the early momentum in the third with a quick 10-2 lead. However, Coast Guard would use a 10-3 surge to make it a 13-12 game before three kills from Albrecht would fuel a 6-0 run that allowed the Pride to gain some breathing room.  Holding the hosts to a .000 hitting percentage in the set, Donahue and Albrecht combined for nine kills as Springfield cruised to a 25-15 win. 

Much in part to Townsend's 13 digs in the fourth, Springfield held Coast Guard's offense in check as it hit -.097.  Clinging to a 9-7 lead, Springfield used a block and two kills from Voltz as part of a six-point spurt as the Pride doubled up Coast Guard on the scoreboard.  Totaling 13 kills at a .387 clip, Springfield would seal the 25-13 win after back-to-back kills from Olivia Gentry (Loveland, Ohio). 

The New England Challenge gets underway on Friday evening, as the Pride travel to face nationally-ranked Tufts at 7 pm.

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