By Liam Reilly
@liampreilly852
The Springfield College women’s volleyball team is nearing the end of another great season. The Pride are 22-6 through Nov. 12 and entered the NEWMAC tournament as the No. 2 seed. After beating Coast Guard 3-1 in the quarterfinals, Springfield will face Smith College in the semifinal round on Saturday, Nov. 16. The team’s success can be attributed to returning a majority of its core players from last season, but also from being active in the transfer portal.
The reigning NEWMAC Women’s Volleyball Athlete of the Year, Riley Donahue, transferred to the Pride from Endicott prior to the 2022 season. That same offseason, Springfield head coach Moira Long brought in libero Ally Townsend, whose 2023 graduate season campaign earned her an AVCA Division III All-America Selection honorable mention. Long dipped back into the portal this off-season, securing commitments from Ahunna James and Kristen DeLorenzo.
James is a sophomore from Plainville, Mass., majoring in public health. She has played volleyball since seventh grade and after competing for King Philip Regional High School, James committed to Southern Connecticut State University.
In her first collegiate season, James made an immediate impact. Through 86 sets, she recorded 137 points and 163 digs. Despite her strong debut, James felt like she wasn’t a fit at SCSU.
“I only spent one semester at Southern but when I was at Southern I lost my love and joy for volleyball so I wasn’t able to find happiness there in volleyball and academically as well,” James said.
Finding it difficult to call the New Haven campus home, James decided to enter the transfer portal, a decision that came with its own challenges.
“The transfer portal process was kind of stressful for me because it was like the whole recruiting process again, but added on the stresses of being a freshman,” James said. “It was kind of a lot, but my mom and coach Long helped me through the process of going through the transfer portal.”
Long had been eyeing the transfer portal when she saw James’ name. Recognizing her from the SMASH Volleyball Club in Massachusetts, Long reached out, and they connected the same day.
The two set up a phone call that played a crucial part in James deciding on Springfield as her new school.
“As soon as I had my first phone call with coach Long, I knew this is the type of environment I wanted to be in,” James said. “I knew I wanted a coach that really cared about me, about the team and what our mentality would be like for each season, for offseason and in-season.”
James soon visited Springfield College’s campus – officially meeting Long and the rest of the team. The visit solidified James’ desire to don maroon and white.
“With Ahunna, as soon as you talk to her, you’re like ‘Oh my god you’re lovely and a competitor,’” Long said. “I’d seen her play before, so I knew she was very good at volleyball. Once I saw her come to campus and interact with my team, it was almost like she had been here forever. That’s part of it for us. You have to be good at volleyball but also fit into the culture of our team.”
This decision has proven to be a success, as James has become a key player for the Pride. Playing in the same number of sets as last season, James saw increases in kills (131) and blocks (48). In Tuesday night’s match against Coast Guard, James put the final nail in the coffin by notching a kill to win Springfield the match.
On and off the court, James’ chemistry with her teammates has reached a point where they forget she transferred in.
“For Ahunna, you could interact with her for a second and she brings so much joy,” Long said. “Volleyball brings me joy anyway, but she elevates that. She has this fun, loving, carefree kind of personality, but she’s a competitor and wants to win. Coaching her has been a lot of fun in that regard, because she and the rest of the sophomore class are a little bit wild in the best possible way. It’s been joyful for sure.”
The Pride’s other transfer is graduate student Kristen DeLorenzo, a Syracuse, N.Y., native pursuing a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. DeLorenzo’s volleyball career started at nine years old. Her older sister played in high school and started a volleyball program at DeLorenzo’s elementary school. DeLorenzo’s sister and cousin played in the program, so she naturally joined when the time came.
In 2020, DeLorenzo committed to Stonehill College, drawn to the close-knit feeling around the volleyball program. Her first season was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but when she was finally able to get on the court, DeLorenzo helped the team to a 22-10 record in her sophomore season.
However, at the end of the year, Stonehill transitioned from Division II to Division I. The team’s inaugural season in Division I was tough, as its win total dropped by 19, resulting in a 3-27 record. The year after was even more challenging. Stonehill went 3-29 and lost its first 14 matches before winning its first in late September. After her senior season, DeLorenzo had to rethink her future.
“I love the school and my team, but they didn’t have my masters,” DeLorenzo said. “When I was thinking about where to go and play, I said ‘I should probably play somewhere that does have that masters. If I’m going to do this, I want to be somewhere that’s a winning team after being on kind of a losing team.’”
DeLorenzo told her coaches and athletic director to put her name in the transfer portal. She knew she was going to have to take her time to decide where she was going to go, and contemplated whether or not she even wanted to play for another team for just one year. A torn labral in her hip, suffered in her last year, also made her unsure if her body could handle another year.
After weighing her options, DeLorenzo decided to step onto the hardwood one last time – knowing she wanted to be part of a winning Division II or III program. DeLorenzo contacted Long to let her know that she was looking to come to grad school for athletic counseling and the two set up a phone call.
“It was different in terms of her making sure it was a good fit for academics,” Long said. “For us it was ‘Okay you’d basically be here for three months, how quickly can you adjust to how we do things?’”
Long was impressed by DeLorenzo’s passing and defensive abilities. The team also had a gap to fill at the libero position after Townsend graduated from Springfield last year. Having the experience and skill helped Long decide she wanted DeLorenzo on the team.
As for DeLorenzo, the Springfield women’s volleyball program’s success was another appealing facet. The team were coming off a successful season where they went 27-5, a perfect 11-0 in its regular season conference play and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
DeLorenzo’s lone season has been a highlight, collecting career highs in digs (366) and assists (87). In the team’s sweep of Amherst, DeLorenzo had a career accomplishment in reaching 1,000 digs. Long has been pleased with DeLorenzo’s performance.
“For Kristen, she could very well be the best passer I’ve ever coached,” Long said. “She is outstanding in service reception and digs a ton of balls. That’s the skill set that she brought with her from Stonehill. She’s a lovely human and works really hard. She falls into the category of being obsessed with volleyball so we love that.”
The Pride reached the semifinals of the NEWMAC Tournament to earn a rematch against Smith on Saturday. Springfield won the first game in four sets at Blake Arena. Both James and DeLorenzo shared how the team has prepared for the rest of the season.
“Right now it’s the mentality of ‘never enough,’” James said. “We all had our goals that we made in the beginning of the season, and right now this is our time to make it a reality. We all love volleyball and all have the drive to be here. No matter who we play, if we win we want to keep going and play more volleyball games.”
“We’ve been doing really well lately and we’re going in a really good direction,” DeLorenzo said. “We’ve been practicing really hard, nothing totally different but we’ve been doing really well all season.