Springfield, Mass. – August 29, 2025 – The Springfield College women's volleyball team opened its 2025 season with a three set win over Westfield State University in the initial match of the Joel B. Dearing '79 Volleyball Classic inside Blake Arena on Friday afternoon. The Pride won by scores of 25-21, 25-12, 25-11.

Springfield, which was receiving votes in this week's AVCA/TARAFLEX Division III National Poll, begins its season at 1-0, while Westfield State sits at 0-1. Both teams will play twice tomorrow to wrap up the first weekend of play in Western Massachusetts.

Jodi Saelua (Mililani, Hawaii) and Alexa Bonato (Orange, Conn.) led the Pride with nine kills apiece, while Ahunna James (Plainville, Mass.) chipped in with six kills on 16 errorless swings as well as nine digs and three blocks. Tori Colosimo (Fairport, N.Y.) dished out 27 assists, posted six digs and five blocks, Emily Keaveney (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) registered a team-high 12 digs as well as five kills. From the baseline, Avery Chandler (Stoneville, N.C.) notched five aces in her collegiate debut.

Springfield raced out to a 9-5 lead in the first following a swing from James before Westfield used five straight points capped on an ace by Morgan Dority to tie the score at ten. The run for the Owls continued – and ultimately reached 11-1 – to push their lead to 16-10. Springfield fought back as kills from Colosimo, Aubrey Hughes (Liberty Hill, Texas) and Keaveney as well an ace by Colosimo and a block by James cut the Pride's deficit to just one at 16-15. Springfield trailed 18-15, but embarked on a 9-1 run fueled by three aces from Chandler and a swing by Bonato. A final kill by Saelua off a feed from Colosimo gave Springfield the first, 25-21.

Springfield hit a match-best .545 in the second set on 13 kills with just one error en route to a 25-12 win. Bonato gave the Pride an early 5-1 lead before Springfield used a kill from James and two Westfield errors to go ahead 17-8. Kills from Colosimo and Hughes as well as a block by the duo in the middle gave the Pride set point. One final block by the aforementioned pair secured the middle set for Springfield.

Westfield jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the third, but nine straight points for Springfield made it 10-4 as the Pride never looked back in the season-opening sweep. The run featured three kills from Saelua and back-to-back aces from Hughes. Springfield then went on another lengthy spurt – this time 7-1. With Delaney McGee (Holden, Mass.) at the service line, three more kills from Saelua and a swing by Keaveney made it 17-7. Westfield got one final point in the set before Springfield tallied the final five points of the match as Hughes and James teamed up for the block at the net ending the set, 25-11 and the match in three.

Springfield will host Skidmore College at 10:30 am and Rivier University at 3:30 pm on day two of the Dearing Classic tomorrow inside Blake Arena.

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