Cambridge, Mass. – October 26, 2024 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team battled to a pair of five-set victories over Middlebury and Williams in the second day of the New England Challenge on Saturday at MIT.
After today's results, the Pride is now 17-6 on the year.  For her efforts over the weekend, Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) was chosen to the New England Challenge All-Tournament Team. 

Springfield returns to conference play on Tuesday when it travels to WPI for a 7 pm match.

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Springfield 3, Middlebury 2 (23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-13, 15-11)
Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) totaled a game-high 16 kills and Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) produced 14 kills at a .464 clip in the middle.  Olivia Nealy (Athens, Ga.) was credited with a match-high 21 digs and Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) tallied 17 digs and 14 kills as she eclipsed the 1,000 career kill total.  Megan Kirtyan (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) handed out 52 assists in running the offense and Morgan Stafford (Corbett, Ore.) tallied five of Springfield's 15 service aces.

An ace by Donahue knotted up the first set at 18, but the Panthers would score the next two points on a pair of Springfield miscues as the Pride called for a timeout.  Springfield would get not closer than one before Middlebury's second ace of the set completed the 25-22 win.

Middlebury jumped out to an 11-6 cushion as Springfield called for another timeout. Out of the break, Springfield would respond with a 12-5 surge as Kristen DeLorenzo (Syracuse, N.Y.) ripped an ace to give the Pride an 18-16 edge.  Springfield would extend its lead to 22-17 on a kill from Emily Keaveney (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) before Voltz put away her fourth of the set for the 25-23 win.

An ace by Stafford put the Pride up 13-10 in the third, but six attack errors by Springfield would allow Middlebury to put together a 9-3 surge to force the Pride into a timeout.  Another kill from Keaveney would even things up at 22, only to have Middlebury score the next two points to pull away with another 25-23 win.

Leading 4-3 in the fourth, Springfield broke open the stanza with a 7-1 burst, getting three kills from Donahue to lead the way.  The Springfield's lead would grow to 19-9 on a Billet ace and the Springfield would force a fifth set with a 25-13 victory following Middlebury's seventh attack error of the set.

A kill from Billet gave Springfield the lead at the switch in the fifth with an 8-5 lead, but Middlebury would score the next to points to force the Pride into a timeout.  Out of the break, the Pride would use a pair of kills by Billet to fuel a match-ending 7-4 run, with Donahue's fifth kill of the set completing the 15-11 win.
 
Springfield 3, Williams 2 (25-14, 18-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-7) 
Against Williams, Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) led all players with 15 kills and Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) connected on 12 kills to go along with six blocks.  Megan Kirtyan (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) was credited with 28 assists and Morgan Stafford (Corbett, Ore.) notched four aces and eight digs. 

Leading 8-7 in the opening set, Springfield set the tone with an 8-1 run as the Ephs committed five attack errors.  Voltz converted in the middle to make it a 19-10 game and Donahue closed out the first set with her fourth kill in a 25-14 win.

The Pride held a 13-12 lead midway through the second, but Williams would deliver three aces as part of a 9-1 surge to take control as it cruised to a 25-18 win in a set where both teams hit below .000. Williams carried that momentum in the third, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the set to seize a commanding 9-2 lead. The Ephs produced 16 kills at a .400 clip as a team as it earned the 25-20 win.

It was Springfield that took command of the fourth in the early going, as Donahue and Jodi Saelua (Mililani, Hawaii) teamed up for a block at 12-5.  An ace from Donahue would push the lead to 17-8 and Springfield would eventually take a 25-19 fourth set to force a fifth.

Voltz set the tone in the fifth, registering five kills in the first eight points to give Springfield a 7-1 cushion.  The Ephs would get within 8-5 as the Pride called a timeout, only to have Donahue side out with a kill to kickstart a 6-0 scoring run as Springfield earned match point at 14-5 on a Williams attack error.  Three points later, Donahue smashed her 14^th kill of the afternoon to complete the comeback and 15-7 win.