Springfield, Mass. – October 22, 2024 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team picked a three-set sweep of Wellesley College by scores of 25-16 25-21, 25-23, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday evening in Blake Arena.

Springfield, which earned its sixth NEWMAC win of the fall improved to 15-5 overall and to 6-2 in league play, while Wellesley dropped to 8-7, 3-5.

Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) hit .385 with a match-high 12 kills to go along with nine digs, while Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) tallied ten kills, two aces and four digs for Springfield. In the middle Jodi Saelua (Mililani, Hawaii) and Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) combined for 12 kills as Voltz went 7-2-22 and Saelua went 5-0-9, while setter Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) dished out 34 assists and had an ace to round out the highlights for Springfield tonight.

In the first, Donahue hit .556 with six kills on nine swings to lead the Springfield offense. Knotted at six, the Pride went on a brief 6-1 run capped by two aces and two kills by Donahue forcing Wellesley to call a timeout. Out of the break, Springfield ballooned its advantage to eight after a 10-5 spurt that featured a pair of kills by Billet and aces by both Morgan Stafford (Corbett, Ore.) and Donahue for a 21-13 advantage before swings by James and Billet secured the set 25-16 for the Pride.

The second saw both Billet and Voltz tally four kills apiece as Springfield took a 2-0 lead in the match following a tight 25-21 middle set. Springfield trailed 12-11 and called a timeout following a swing by Noelle Winn, but responded with three straight points on kills by Voltz and Donahue to take a 14-12 edge, a lead the Pride wouldn't relinquish. Springfield took advantage of four attack errors by the Blue to push its lead to 22-15 before swings by Billet and Voltz gave the Pride a 25-21 win.

Springfield held a 23-18 lead late in the third before Wellesley stormed back to even the set at 23 with Else Kunze-Hoeg at the service line, but an error from the Blue paired by a kill from Voltz secured the three-set sweep for the Pride.

Springfield will travel to Tufts University on Friday to open play in the 2024 New England Challenge at 7:00 pm. The Pride will wrap the weekend on Saturday against Middlebury College and Williams College on the campus of MIT.

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