Springfield, Mass. – November 11, 2023 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team gritted out a four-set win over Coast Guard in four sets in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Semifinals on Saturday afternoon in Blake Arena.  The top-seeded Pride downed the fourth-seeded Bears by the scores of 21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23.   

Springfield advances to the NEWMAC Championship for the second time in the last three years and will host the title match for the first time since 2018. The Pride, which is receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/TARAFLEX Division III national poll this week, is now 26-3 on the season, while Coast Guard's push towards a championship came to a close with a 20-9 record. 

Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) carried Springfield on the day offensively with a match-high 15 kills to go along with 14 digs, while Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) added eight kills of her own.  Ally Townsend (Hummelstown, Pa.) registered a match-best 25 digs and Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) tallied 37 assists. 

For the Bears, Shannon Shaw and Allie Wildsmith each had 12 kills in the setback, Kaela France contributed 24 digs, and Maeve Duffin was credited with 40 assists. 

Both squads struggled offensively in the opening set, but it was the Pride that got off to a fast start seizing an early 6-1 advantage thanks to a pair of aces from Townsend.  Springfield would maintain a 19-15 edge on a swing by Emily Keaveney (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) as Coast Guard called for its second timeout of the stanza.  Out of the break, the Bears ripped off a 9-0 run, fueled by three-straight aces by Carmen Zipf, as it rallied for the 25-21 win. 

In the second, Coast Guard led 16-13 midway through the frame, only to have Springfield be the squad that put together a set-changing run as Keaveney sidedout out with a kick to jump start a 8-0 burst.  Springfield would pull away with the 25-20 win, getting their 15th kill of the stanza from Kylie Wixted (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.).

Wixted and Olivia Gentry (Cincinnati, Ohio) teammed up for a block at 10-6 and Coast Guard called for a timeout early in the third.  Springfield pushed its lead to 14-9 on a kill from Billet and the hosts wouldn't allow the Bears to get any closer than two points as it prevailed by a 25-22 margin to take a 2-1 lead in the match.  Billet and Voltz controlled much of the set for the Pride, combining for nine kills. 

The fourth set featured 12 ties and six lead changes as the back and forth affair saw the teams locked up at 22-22 when Olivia Nealy (Athens, Ga.) and Jodi Saelua  (Mililani, Hawaii) teammed up for a critical block.  The teams would trade points again to be tied for the final time at 23-all before a Coast Guard attack error and match sealing kill from Voltz pushed Springfield back into the conference championship match. Townsend came up big in the set, producing eight digs, while Billet accounted for four of the Pride's 14 kills. 

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