By Chris Gionta
@Chris_Gionta
The Springfield women’s volleyball team lost to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 3-0, on Saturday at Dana Gymnasium on Saturday, losing each set 26-24, 25-10 and 25-23 respectively.
After losing two consecutive games on the road, Springfield was seemingly back on the right track in the first set. The first timeout of the game was called by WPI when Springfield went on a 7-1 run to make it 13-8. The Pride extended their lead to nine shortly after, making it 18-9.
This would end up being Springfield’s largest lead of the day, as WPI went on a 6-1 run, forcing a Pride timeout. Still, Springfield had a seemingly comfortable 19-15 lead. It was back-and-forth and the lead remained four to set up for the Pride’s match point, as the score was 24-20. But, two kills, two service aces, and two attack errors later, WPI won the first set, 26-24, closing it out on a 17-6 run and a six consecutive points.
The momentum did not stop for WPI. After getting out to a 10-6 lead, Springfield called timeout. Then, after a WPI attack error to make it 15-10, the Engineers ensured that was their last miscue of the set, as they scored 10 consecutive points to close out the second set, winning 25-10.
“I think you’re up 18-9, and then they fought back, and they did a great job, and we were kind of just stunned and stopped playing,” said Springfield head coach Moira Long.
The third set proved to be more competitive, as WPI was the first to call timeout after the Pride got out to a 9-7 lead. However, the Engineers responded with an 8-3 run to make it 15-12 in WPI’s favor. Although the set remained tight, WPI did not lose their lead, and won the set, 25-23, to secure the sweep.
The switch in momentum early on was a shock to everyone in Dana Gymnasium on Saturday, and Long plans on ensuring something like this does not continue to happen.
“I think it’s consistency,” said Long. “Everybody has to do their job. It’s the things that you can control, like defensively — stay outside the block, good blocking eyes — it’s just controlling the controllables.”
Springfield will have an opportunity to bounce back on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Clark University at Blake Arena.