Sam Leventhal
sleventhal@springfieldcollege.edu
@Sam_Leventhal
The Springfield College Women’s volleyball team faced off against the Wellesley College Blue, wrapping up their final regular season game with a four set victory, on Saturday at Blake Arena.
With the win, the Pride are now the owners of 19 straight victories as they improve to 28-2 on the season and 9-1 in NEWMAC play.
In the first set, the Blue jumped out to an 18-14 lead before the Pride went on a 5-1 run to level it up at 19. With a couple blocks from junior Lauren Holt, who led Springfield with 10 kills and eight blocks in the contest, and freshman Hayley Kmetz (two digs, one block) the Pride jumped out in front 23-22. Wellesley would then go on to score the final three points taking their only set in the match.
“I think after the first set and after the first eight points of the second set we realized that we can’t just sit back, we needed to be the aggressor,” head coach Moira Long said. That is exactly what Springfield turned out to be. The Pride found themselves in an 11-1 hole, but then sparked a 19-1 run, flying out to a 20-12 lead. Springfield would go on to tally their final five points giving them a 25-17 victory in set two.
In the third set, the Pride found themselves out in front 17-15 as they started to pull away, scoring seven points to Wellesley’s three, giving them a 24-18 lead. A poor serve into the net from the Blue would give the Pride the victory and a 2-1 advantage in sets.
Springfield showed their dominance over Wellesley in the final stretch by allowing only 10 points and completing their match victory 3-1. “It was a real team effort. It’s really important to finish strong in this conference knowing that Wellesley was going to battle because they always do,” Long said.
Sophomore Kayleigh Helgesen joined Holt with 10 kills. Senior captain Kelsey McGayhey registered eight kills, three assists and three blocks. Jennifer Hurwitz added 13 digs, three blocks and three aces. Freshman libero, Hannah Lozano led the contest with 16 digs and junior Marnae Mawdsley dished out 21 assists.
Coming up next, Springfield will be playing in the NEWMAC Championship Quarterfinals as the second seed in the tournament. They will face seventh seeded WPI on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at Blake Arena. The game is schedule for a 7 p.m. start.