Helen Lucas
Staff Writer
The Springfield College women’s volleyball team has continued to reign supreme as the ladies have put together or a 21-3 record, with a 14 game win streak. One of the standout players this season for the Pride has been freshman Anagabrielle Sanchez, from Puerto Rico.
Sanchez has been named the NEWMAC Women’s Volleyball Defensive Athlete of the Week for the the second time this season.
“Ana has been consistent in her play,” said head coach Moira Long. “What we preach in our program is consistency.”
What makes Sanchez such a standout is not only her consistency, but how she can read the hitter so well. Being from a different country, she has had to adjust to playing the game differently.
“Here there is more communication and more support,” said Sanchez. This past weekend Sanchez continued to post the most digs for Springfield in all the matches they played. She posted double figures in all matches with her most being 28 against Montclair State.
Sanchez has not been the only standout player for Springfield this season as Senior Lauren Holt has been named NEWMAC Women’s Athlete of the Week for the third time this season.
Holt has been named Offensive Player of the Week once and Defensive Athlete of the Week twice. “She had 41 blocks this weekend which is unheard of, there are some people in our conference that have 41 total blocks,” said Long. “It is unique to have a player as dynamic as Lauren both offensively and defensively.”
Both the play of Holt and Sanchez have propelled the Pride to an impressive regular season. On Friday, Springfield beat Haverford 3-1 in the first match of the weekend. After that win came a 3-2 victory over Stevens – the No. 1 ranked team in New York. The real test came on Saturday when the Pride took on Farleigh Dickinson University and Montclair State. Springfield beat FDU 3-0 and beat Montclair State 3-2. Long said, “We went there for a purpose, we went there to be tested and to challenge ourselves and I thought my team really responded to the challenge.”
Springfield will have one game left on Saturday at Wellesley before the start of the NEWMAC championships in November.