Springfield, Mass. – November 12, 2024 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team advanced past Coast Guard, 3-1, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Tournament Quarterfinals inside Blake Arena on Tuesday evening.

The No. 2 seed in the tournament, Springfield improved to 22-6 and will next face off against third-seeded Smith in the NEWMAC Championship Semifinals on Saturday at MIT.  The seventh-seeded Bears have their season come to a close at 17-11.

Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) led all players with season-best 20 kills and added 10 digs, while fellow outside Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) was credited with a team-best 19 digs to go along with season-high 16 kills. Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) tallied 16 kills in the middle, hitting .483, and Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) finished the evening with a career-best 57 assists.

For the visiting Bears, Kaela France racked up a 30-dig performance, while Shannon Shawn produced 15 kills and 14 digs, Amelia Matson chipped in 14 kills, and Sophia Rosenburg registered 44 helpers.

Springfield fell behind 12-10 in the first, and would later break open a 15-all game with a four-point run which was highlighted by an ace from Morgan Stafford (Corbett, Ore.).  Springfield pushed its lead to 24-17 on a block by Colosimo and Jodi Saelua (Mililani, Hawaii) and earned a 25-18 win after a Coast Guard swing found the antenna.  Springfield totaled 17 kills at a .310 clip in the opener, paced by six kills from Voltz.

Coast Guard called for a timeout down 10-5 in the second after Billet converted an off-balanced kill in transition, but the visitors would battle back to even things up at 11-all on a kill by Sarah Somer.  Clinging to a 19-18 edge, Springfield turned got a sideout kill from Voltz out of a timeout before Billet connected on back-to-back kills to push the Pride's advantage to 22-18.  Donahue would later bury her fifth kill of the set to wrap up a 25-22 win.

After falling behind 10-7, Springfield seized a 20-16 lead on a kill by Billet.  Out of a Coast Guard timeout, the visitors would score four-straight, getting a pair of kills from Somer, but Springfield would build a 23-21 edge on a kill from Voltz.  However, the Bears would score the next three points to seize momentum before ultimately taking a 27-25 decision. France put up 13 digs in the stanza in helping limit Springfield to just a .145 hitting percentage.

Springfield jumped out to an 8-2 lead to begin the fourth following back-to-back kills by Voltz.   The lead  ballooned to 16-9 when Saelua and Ahunna James (Plainville, Mass.) teamed up for a huge block on the pin, but Coast Guard would battle their way back, getting three-straight aces cap off a 6-2 push and make it 18-15.  The Bears would get no closer than three points, as Saelua and James again delivered a block for match point before James thumped her seventh kill of the night in the 25-21 win.

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  Be sure to tune into all Springfield College Athletic events by subscribing to FloSports.