New London, Conn. - October 15, 2024 - The Springfield College women's volleyball match had its six-match winning streak snapped in a four-set decision at Coast Guard on Tuesday night in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play.

Springfield is now 13-5, 4-2 against conference foes and CGA improved to 13-7, 3-3.

The Pride was limited to a .054 hitting percentage, its lowest offensive output since October 29, 2022 versus Brandeis, a span of 53 matches. Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) had a team-best 10 kills and chipped in 15 digs, Kristen DeLorenzo (Syracuse, N.Y.) was credited with 23 digs, and Megan Kirtyan (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) tallied 20 assists, 16 digs, and two aces. 

Three-straight aces by Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) capped off a 5-0 run early in the first to give the Pride a 9-6 advantage. A kill from Billet would serve as the exclamation point of a 6-0 burst to put Springfield in control at 23-18, and despite the hosts pulling within 24-23, Emily Keaveney (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) would convert cross court for the 25-23 win. 

The Bears jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the second and maintained a 21-16 lead, only to have three kills from Billet fuel a six-point scoring run to give Springfield its only lead of the set at 22-1.  The Bears would take advantage of three-straight errors by the Pride before putting away their 12th kill of the set to complete the 25-23 win. 

After Jodi Saelua (Mililani, Hawaii) delivered a kill in the middle to cut CGA's third-set lead to 10-9, the hosts produced a 7-2 push to seize control after back-to-back Pride miscues.   However, Springfield would again make a massive run late in the stanza, as a 7-0 surge featuring two aces by Kirtyan pulled the visitors ahead 23-22. Springfield would commit consecutive attack errors to give the hosts set point before a kill gave Coast Guard another 25-23 win. 

The Bears scored the first four points of the fourth set and never trailed as it pulled away with a 25-16 win to wrap up the four-set victory. 

Springfield will play again on Saturday when it hosts Mount Holyoke at 12 pm.

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