Cambridge, Mass. – September 23, 2023 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team battled their way to a come-from-behind five-set victory over nationally-ranked MIT, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) clash. Then in the nightcap, the Pride defeated UC Santa Cruz in straight sets. 

Springfield boosted its record to 13-1, 2-0 in conference play, while the 16th-ranked Engineers fell to 8-3, 1-1 and UC Santa Cruz moved to 12-6 overall.

On Tuesday, Springfield will host Clark at 7 pm inside Blake Arena.

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Springfield vs. MIT (16-25, 8-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-6)

Junior Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) was dominant on the pin as she erupted for a career-best 24 kills to go along with 17 digs and four aces, while Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) chipped in 15 kills and three aces of her own. Ally Townsend (Hummelstown, Pa.) paced the Pride's defense with 18 digs and Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) was credited with 45 assists and 14 digs. Donahue's 24 kills are the most for Springfield in a single match since the 2019 season.

MIT won the first two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-18, respectively, and hit .460 over that stretch before Springfield began its comeback. The third set saw the score knotted on 13 different occasions with the final time coming at 16-16. Springfield went on a 9-4 run to win the third 25-20 thanks to five kills and an ace from Donahue, a kill by Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and back-to-back set-ending swings by Billet. As a team, the Pride hit at a .356 clip with 21 kills in the third.

In the fourth, Springfield trailed 17-16 before Billet evened the score for the final time. The Pride ripped off a 9-5 run to send the match into a fifth and final set. The spurt was powered by three kills from Donahue, a kill and an ace by Billet, a kill by Voltz and a huge block from Kylie Wixted (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and Olivia Gentry (Cincinnati,Ohio).

Springfield hit .438 in the fifth and raced out to a 6-2 lead following a swing by Wixted forcing the host Engineers to call a timeout. MIT got as close as three points at 7-4, but Springfield's offense erupted for kills from Voltz, Billet and Donahue for the 15-6 win. The match-winning stretch also featured a block from Voltz, who after today's tri-match ranks sixth in Division III with 56 total blocks.

Springfield's win over MIT was the first for the Pride since September 11, 2018 and matched its best start to a season over the program's first 14 games of the year since the 2013 campaign after defeating both the Engineers and Banana Slugs today. Springfield also won today by a reverse sweep (down 0-2 and winning in five sets) for the first time since September 6, 2008 vs. Trinity College.

Springfield vs. Santa Cruz (25-20, 25-23, 26-24)

Donahue continued her day with another outstanding effort that featured 22 kills, three aces and four digs. Billet added nine kills, while Colosimo tallied a match-high 14 digs, 29 assists and six service aces. Donahue hit at a. 500 clip for the match (22 K-3 E-38 TA).

Springfield trailed 12-9 in the first set, but a swing by Donahue began a 9-1 run that featured four straight aces by Colosimo to give the Pride an 18-13 edge. Santa Cruz pulled within one at 21-20 before an error paired with swings by Colosimo, Donahue and Voltz gave Springfield the 25-20 set one win.

The Pride never relinquished its lead in the second set after jumping out to a 5-0 lead with Colosimo posting a pair of aces to open the stanza. Donahue (five kills) and Colosimo (four aces) combined for nine of Springfield's 25 points in the middle set. The score was even at 23-23, but back-to-back kills from Billet and Voltz gave the Pride a 2-0 lead in the match.

Springfield hit a match-best .333 in the third and was once again paced by Donahue, Billet and Voltz in the stanza. The Pride rallied from a five point deficit at 20-15 and eventually tied the score at 21, 22, 23 and 24. Wixted swung for a kill to give the Pride a 25-24 edge and an ace from Townsend secured the three-set sweep for Springfield.

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