Springfield, Mass. – November 7, 2023 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team advanced past Smith in four sets in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Quarterfinals on Tuesday night in Blake Arena.  The top-seeded Pride downed the eighth-seeded Pioneers by the scores of 25-23, 25-21, 15-25, 25-22.   

Springfield, which continued to receive votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/TARAFLEX Division III national poll this week, is now 25-3 on the season, while Smith's campaign came to a close at 16-13. Springfield, which is serving as the top seed in the conference championship for the first time since 2018 after rattling off its third undefeated NEWMAC regular season in program history, will host the conference semifinals and championship this upcoming weekend.  With 25 wins on the season, Springfield has its most victories in a year since the 2016 team racked up 29 wins. 

Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) was sensational in the middle for the Pride as she turned in a career-high 16 kills at a .406 clip to go along with eight blocks.  Both Olivia Gentry (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) contributed 10 kills, Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) handed out 41 helpers and notched six blocks, and Ally Townsend (Hummelstown, Pa.) led all players with 20 digs.

For Smith, Abby Sweeney led the visitors with 12 kills, hitting .360, while both Miranda Oakes and Anna Feuer were credited with five blocks apiece and Gabby Beckman registered 18 digs. 

Springfield's block was active to start the match, producing four stuffs in the opening eight points as the hosts surged out to a 6-2 advantage.  Smith would answer back with a 4-0 burst to tie things up when Abby Hunt hammered a kill in transition, and another Hunt kill off a roll shot gave the Pioneers a 14-12 advantage to force the Pride into a timeout.   Springfield would respond with a kill by Donahue and ace by Townsend as the teams would go back and forth in a set that featured a total of 16 ties.  Knotted up at 21-21, Voltz would bounce a ball in system to put the Pride up 23-21 before Billet converted her fifth kill of the set for the 25-23 win.

Smith committed back-to-back errors to allow the Pride to take a 10-5 lead in the second, and Voltz would team with Olivia Nealy (Athens, Ga.) for a thunderous block at 12-6.  Smith would battle all the way back to take their first lead of the set at 19-18, thanks to a 6-0 run that featured five Pride miscues, but Springfield would close out the set on a 7-2 push to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Gentry keyed the surge with a pair of kills and Voltz and Nealy teammed up for a block on the pin at set point for the 25-21 triumph.  Springfield limited Smith to a -.069 hitting percentage in the stanza, as Gentry and Voltz combined for nine kills in the middle.

The visitors seized an early 8-4 lead in the third, and despite Springfield pulling within 11-13 on a kill from Donahue, Smith would put together a 6-0 burst capped off by a kill from Hunt to pull away with a 19-11 edge.  Smith, using four kills from Mia Etheridge off the bench, would hit .310 in the set and cruised to the 25-15 victory. 

Springfield used a 4-0 run early in the fourth, with Colosimo ripping an ace at 9-6 as Smith burned an early timeout.  The hosts lead would balloon to 18-12 on a block by Gentry and Donahue, but Smith would not go quietly, using a 9-1 run thanks to six attack errors by the Pride, to open up a 21-19 advantage.  Trailing 22-20, Voltz took over as she fueled the Pride to a match-ending 5-0 burst, converting for a pair of kills and teamming up with Colosimo for a monster block to reach match point.  The sophomore then put away her fifth kill of the set in transition to propel Springfield to the NEWMAC Championship Semifinals on Saturday.  

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