Springfield, Mass. – October 1, 2024 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team picked up a hard fought five-set win at Clark in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday night by the set scores of 25-14, 23-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-8.

The victory boosts the Pride's record to 8-4, 2-1 in conference play, while the Cougars fell to 7-6, 1-2. 

Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) had the best match of her career as she totaled 16 kills at a .481 clip in the middle to go along with nine blocks.  Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) produced 14 kills and 12 digs and Kristen DeLorenzo (Syracuse, N.Y.) collected a match-best 22 digs. 

After trailing 12-11 in the first set, Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) ripped back-to-back kills to kickstart a 13-2 surge as it ran away with a 25-14 win.  Clark was limited to a -.103 hitting percentage in the stanza. 

A kill from Ahunna James (Plainville, Mass.) allowed Springfield to take a 10-8 lead in the second, but the hosts responded with 6-1 push to open up a 14-11 edge. A kill from Donahue pulled the Pride within 23-22, but Springfield would commit a service error out of a Clark timeout as the Cougars held on for a 25-23 win. 

Even at 16 apiece, Clark manufactured a 6-3 burst to take command of the third set with a 22-19 advantage.  Two kills from James fueled a Pride 4-1 run as the visitors evened things up at 23-all, but Clark would again close strong with another 25-23 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match. 

The hosts jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth and was clinging to a 17-16 lead late in the frame.  However, Springfield would use a 6-0 run to go up 24-18 on a block by Donahue and Jodi Saelua (Miliani, Hawaii) before Donahue hammed a kill to force a fifth set.

Two Clark attack errors and a big swing from James forced Clark to call a timeout as they fell behind 3-0 in the fifth.  An ace from Billet pushed the lead to 9-3 and the visitors would seal the 15-8 win after Billet cracked Springfield's ninth kill of the fifth set, a stanza in which the Pride hit at a .400 clip and held Clark to a -.071 hitting percentage. 

Springfield returns to Alden Street for a conference showdown with Emerson at 12 pm. 

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