By Liam Reilly
@liampreilly852
SPRINGFIELD- The Springfield College women’s volleyball team swept Salve Regina Tuesday night (25-8, 25-20, 25-16) at Blake Arena. The win moves the Pride to 19-6.
Springfield rocketed to a 7-1 start in set one, forcing Salve Regina head coach Sebastian Noordzy to burn an early timeout. A pair of kills from Natalie Billet pushed the Pride’s lead to double digits. Springfield made work of the Seahawks, winning the first set 25-8 after an impressive dig by Morgan Stafford led to a Riley Donahue kill to gain the Pride their last point.
Springfield’s dominance in the first set was its best start all year. Head coach Moira Long finds the neutralizing of Salve Regina’s offense early on was key.
“I thought we served really tough so they couldn’t get in system, and they kept giving us free balls so we could run our offense,” Long said.
The Seahawks started the second with more fight, knotting the score at six. Salve Regina extended their lead over Springfield by three, but Donahue continued her impressive night by adding on three kills to bring the score 23-18 in favor of the Pride. Ahunna James ended the set by delivering a kill into the floor of Blake Arena, ending the set 25-20 in favor of Springfield.
Looking to claim their 11th sweep of the season, the Pride leapt out to a 7-2 lead in the third set. The Seahawks clawed back however, grabbing the score and shifting it in their favor, 10-8. However momentum shifted once again, as Springfield outscored Salve Regina 15-11. First year Eva Dudley pushed the lead to 24-16 by contributing two kills. With a win tonight helping the Pride gain ahead in conference standings, Springfield took care of business and forced the Seahawks to commit an error, winning the set 25-16.
Despite the Pride winning 3-0 tonight, the game wasn’t as easy as the results suggest. Tonight’s match had the score tied 10 times. Donahue shared how the team adjusted to match Salve’s tempo.
“We talked about controlling what our side does,” Donahue said. “Sometimes it’s pretty easy to match what the other side does and their energy and speed. When Salve [Regina] played a little slower, so did we. We run a super fast offense, so we just need to stick with the basics and do what we do.”
Springfield has two games left in regular season play, and with the win tonight they are now slated third in NEWMAC standings. Long is confident with how her squad matches up with the rest of the conference.
“We just control our side and focus on what we do well, and when we do that and not think too much, things go well for us,” Long said. “I think we stack up well, we’re really in the mindset of one point at a time and go from there.”
Springfield looks to continue their four game win streak when they play Endicott Thursday night in Blake Arena at 7 p.m.