Springfield, Mass. – September 28, 2024 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team dropped their first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular-season game since 2022 on Saturday as it was clipped by nationally-ranked MIT in straight sets.  The Engineers won by the scores of 25-14, 25-21, 25-21.

Playing in Blake Arena for the first time since August 31, Springfield dipped to 7-4, 1-1 in conference play, while MIT, who was ranked No. 6 in the most recent AVCA Division III National Poll, is now 14-0, 2-0.

In a rematch of last year's NEWMAC Championship, MIT hit .239 in the victory as Julia Tolstova produced a match-best 10 kills, while the middle duo of Ali Gibbs and Consecrata Rozario combined for 18 kills and eight blocks.  Kayleigh May handed out 28 assists to go along with nine digs and four aces.  For the Pride, Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.) and Ahunna James (Plainville, Mass.) each had nine kills and Kristen DeLorenzo (Syracuse, N.Y.) racked up a match-best 21 digs.

MIT jumped out to a 4-1 lead to start the match, but Springfield would pull within 11-9 following an Engineer attack error.  However, the Engineers put together a 7-2 push, capped off by an ace from Ella Gragg, as the visitors lead grew to 18-11.  MIT would hit .417 in the contest and benefit from seven Springfield attack errors to earn the 25-14 win.

Springfield rattled off the first five points of the second set as Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) pounded a pair of early kills. Springfield's cushion grew to 10-3 when Donahue blistered an ace down the line, but MIT would storm back to even the set at 15-all on an ace of their own.  MIT would later use 5-1 push to extend a 22-19 lead before ultimately taking the 25-21 second-set victory.

The third set featured nine ties, the last coming at 16 when James ripped a kill.  MIT would manufacture a 4-1 spurt to force the hosts into a timeout as Springfield would get no closer than three points before falling by a 25-21 margin in the third.  

The Pride hits the road again on Tuesday when it travels to take on Clark in conference play at 7 pm.

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.