Box Score Wellesley, Mass. – October 17, 2023 – The nationally-ranked Springfield College women's volleyball team battled their way to a four-set win at Wellesley in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday night. Springfield took the match by the set scores of 25-21,25-18,18-25,25-19.
Earlier in the day, Springfield finally broke into the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/TARAFLEX Division III national poll at the No. 25 spot and pushed its winning streak to 16 matches to improve to 20-1, 8-0 in conference play.
Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) shouldered the offensive load with 17 kills, while Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) and Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) each put away nine kills. Ally Townsend (Hummelstown, Pa.) reached the 21-dig mark and Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) handed out 40 assists.
The Blue opened up a 14-9 lead after an ace clipped off the tape coming out of a Springfield timeout midway through the opening frame. Wellesley would push its advantage to 19-14 following their fourth service ace of the stanza, only to have Springfield mount a furious rally to seize the opening set by a 25-21 margin. As part of the 11-2 surge, Towsend was sensational on defense while Morgan Stafford (Corbett, Ore.) delivered back-to-back aces to give the visitors a 22-20 as part of a 6-0 run. Voltz would terminate Springfield's 16th kill of the set as she buried a ball in transition on set point.
Olivia Nealy (Athens, Ga.) put away an kill for the Pride to give the visitors a 7-3 lead in the second, only to have Wellesley respond with a 9-4 surge to take its first lead of the set at 12-11. The teams would trade points as Wellesley would maintain an 18-17 edge, but a service error from the hosts would tie things up for the final time. Billet would then drop in an ace to kickstart a gritty 8-0 burst as the Pride pulled away with the 25-18 win. Both Donahue and Voltz would account for a pair of kills, while Billet ripped back-to-back aces to seal the 25-18 triumph.
In the third, Wellesley racked up 15 kills at a .324 clip as it raced out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back. After a Donahue ace pulled the Pride within 11-7, the Blue scored six of the next eight points to have its lead balloon to 17-9 as it would cruise to a 25-18 win.
A back-and-forth fourth set would featured seven ties, the last coming at 15-15 following a Pride attack error. However, a service error by the Blue would allow Stafford to once again get hot from the service line, as she keyed a 7-1 run that put the Pride in control at 22-16. Donahue was dominant down the stretch, registering four late kills, before Townsend would connect on an ace on match point to conclude the evening.
Springfield gears up for a weekend filled with top-level non-conference competition as it clashes with Middlebury, Tufts, and host Williams in the New England Challenge beginning on Friday.
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