Waltham, Mass. - September 14, 2024 - The Springfield College women's volleyball team earned a four-set win over Bowdoin on Saturday morning before falling in five-sets to Brandeis to wrap up the Brandeis Invitational on Saturday.

Springfield earned the win over Bowdoin by the set scores of 21-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-17, while Brandeis rallied for a 18-25, 16-25, 25-17, 25-10, 15-10 win. 

Springfield was receiving votes in the most recent AVCA Division III National Poll and is now 6-3 on the 2024 campaign.

Next up for the Pride will be a Wednesday evening showdown in Blake Arena with Endicott at 7 pm.


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Springfield 3, Bowdoin 1
Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) turned in a match-best 15 kills to go along with nine digs and five aces, while Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) produced nine kills and seven blocks for the Pride.  Ahunna James (Plainville, Mass.) stuffed her stat sheet with 11 kills and 10 digs and Kristen DeLorenzo (Syracuse, N.Y.) tallied 24 digs.  Megan Kirtyan (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) came off the bench to hand out 32 assists in the win. 

The opening set had 13 ties and eight lead changes in a back-and-forth affair.  After an ace from Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) gave Springfield an 18-17 lead, the Polar Bears scored the next three points and would close out the frame with an 8-3 push to take a 25-21 win. 

Donahue ripped a kill in transition to help the Pride take an early 6-2 advantage, only to have Bowdoin respond with the next seven points to regain a 9-6 edge.  However, Springfield would answer with a 7-2 push of their off following a Donahue kill to run away with a 25-18 win. 

Bowdoin jumped out to a 6-1 cushion in the third, forcing Springfield into an early timeout.  Springfield would regroup and power out a 19-6 surge to take over the momentum.  The Pride totaled five blocks and aces as a team while getting four kills from James en route to a 25-16 victory. 

Springfield broke open a 5-5 game in the fourth with the next four points as part of a 7-1 run which was fueled by a pair of kills from Emily Keaveney (Massapequa Park, N.Y.).   The six-point cushion was all the breathing room Springfield needed as it closed out the match on a 5-0 run with Kylie Wixted (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and Donahue block on the pin serving as the exclamation point on the win. 

Brandeis 3, Springfield 2
In the setback to Brandeis, Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) led all players with 18 kills and Kristen DeLorenzo (Syracuse, N.Y.) recorded 19 digs. 

Trailing 15-12 in the first, Springfield called for a timeout and responded with an 8-1 run out of the break thanks to a pair of aces from Morgan Stafford (Corbett, Ore.) as the Judges burned a pair of timeouts. Springfield would pull away with a 25-18 win as Brandeis was held to a -.031 team hitting percentage.

Midway through the second, Springfield scored six-straight points which featured two aces by Megan Kirtyan (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) to have its lead balloon to 19-10. Donahue was unstoppled in the frame, connecting for seven kills on 11 errorless attempts.

After Brandeis jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the third, Springfield battled back with a 6-0 run to get right back into it.  Springfield would be within 19-17 on another ace by Stafford, but the hosts scored the last six points to make it a 2-1 contest. 

The Judges carried that momentum into the fourth, seizing an early 18-11 lead en route to a 25-20 win where they totaled 15 kills at a team. 

Springfield took an 8-6 lead at the switch following a big block from Ahunna James (Plainville, Mass.) and Jodi Saelau (Mililani, Hawaii), but Brandeis would score the next six points to pull away with a 15-10 win and complete the reverse sweep.