By Liam Reilly
@liampreilly852
SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield College women’s volleyball team lost to Williams 3-2 last night, was swept by Tufts this morning and beat Middlebury 3-0 in the afternoon at the New England Challenge, which they hosted inside Blake Arena. The Pride now sit at 20-5 and 7-2 at home.
Springfield struggled early in set one as Tufts took an 8-2 lead after several errors from the Pride. Trouble continued as Springfield was unable to slow down the Jumbos’ offense, forcing head coach Moira Long to call a timeout down 15-8. The Pride scored three straight points coming out of the timeout, but their spark didn’t last for long as Tufts kept its lead and went on to win 25-14.
Springfield looked sluggish to start set two, but quickly cut its deficit to two after sophomore Alexa Bonato rained down a trio of kills. The second set turned into a stalemate, with each team building a lead until the other team chopped it down to tie the game. The Elephants broke free and charged a 9-2 run to win the set two, 25-18.
Despite being down 2-0, the Pride still had fight left in them, leaping out to a 6-5 lead early in the third set. Tufts caught up and started building momentum until Bonato rose above the net and slammed a kill down into a group of Tufts defenders to hold Tufts’ lead to two. Springfield kept the score close but struggled to take the lead back and lost 25-20.
“Ultimately we need to serve way tougher,” Long said. “We needed to take them out of system which we didn’t do. We needed to run different routes and instead we became very predictable. We need to block better. Nothing about what we did was fearless, it was hoping they were going to make mistakes and you have to force that team into mistakes.”
The Pride faced Middlebury later in the afternoon, and having already lost to Williams and Tufts, Springfield was determined to leave the New England Challenge with a win.
Set one started with Middlebury up 4-3 until a long rally that was won by the Pride when junior Ahunna James rose to the top of the net and rejected the Panthers attack to bring Springfield within tying range. The Pride saw themselves down 16-10 in the middle of the set until their offense started to surge, with three rifling kills from senior Aurissa Boardman. Springfield’s 10-2 run was good enough to give the Pride the lead. Senior Emily Keaveney fired a pair of kills that aided Springfield in winning the first set, 25-22.
Keaveney opened up set two by dissecting Middlebury’s defense with three aces and a kill to give the Pride a 6-1 lead.
“Emily’s done a really great job,” Long said. “She really sets the tone for the team. Her play was outstanding, she swung at the ball, she was super aggressive and she demanded more from her team so her leadership was outstanding. Her serving, I think Middlebury was frustrated with our serving.”
Springfield pushed its lead to 10 after the Panthers were unable to stop the Pride’s offensive prowess. Another Keaveney ace and a kill from Boardman set the score to 25-13, giving Springfield the second set victory.
The third set saw Springfield leading early again, with multiple Middlebury service errors setting the score at 6-4. A pair of aces from sophomore Karenna Allain and continued sloppy play from the Panthers extended the Pride’s lead to five. Down seven Middlebury’s offense awoke, clawing its way back and cutting the deficit to two. Springfield’s offense didn’t let up however. Kills from first year Aubrey Hughes and James led to the Pride securing the set three win and the sweep.
The Pride’s play over the weekend gave them their 20th win of the season, but also ending their streak of undefeated play at home.
“Against Williams we played really well but we didn’t maximize our opportunities,” Long said. “We were up 10-7 in the fifth and just needed to finish when we just sat back. Against Tufts we did not perform well in any shape or form. There was not one positive. We didn’t serve tough, we didn’t play defense, we didn’t block. The response against Middlebury was good. It started off a little slow in set one but we realized that we needed to take it one point at a time.”
As a captain on the team, Keaveney knew it was integral to motivate the team following their brief two-game skid.
“Everyone has to do their job,” Keaveney said. “It doesn’t come down to one person. Everyone on this team has a role and we come in and we respond because we know that we’re able to come out with the win.
The Pride will be back in Blake Arena on Oct. 28 to take on Clark.
Photo Courtesy of Springfield College Athletics