By Liam Reilly
@liampreilly852
The Springfield College women’s volleyball team collected their 14th win defeating Clark 3-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at Blake Arena. The Pride moved to 14-1 and 2-0 in NEWMAC play while the Cougars fell to 8-5 and 1-2 in conference.
Both teams traded blows in the first set, with Clark starting off with an early 4-0 lead. The lead was short lived however, as a string of dominant possessions pushed Springfields lead to 18-10. Two kills from Natalie Billet ended the first set in a Springfield victory.
The second set saw Springfield starting off strong with a 9-3 push, set up by two kills from Billet, Riley Donahue and Maeve Voltz. Clark rallied to tie the score at nine, and both teams refused to let the score get out of reach, as in the second set the teams were stalemated a total of 14 times. The Pride eventually came out victorious after a kill by Donahue set up an ace by Morgan Stafford to win 29-27.
Last week, Donahue was named the NEWMAC Women’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, her fifth time receiving the award in her career. Donahue credited the feat to her teammates.
“All the support from my team,” Donahue said. “It starts with the pass, our setters did a great job stepping up with a lot of girls hurt. I wouldn’t be able to get these awards without the support of my team.”
The Cougars kept things close again in the third set, with the largest lead being two points. Springfield finished the sweep with five straight points from a combination of Clark errors and multiple kills, winning 25-20.
The win was a team effort, as Donahue had 22 kills, Billet amassed 12 kills and digs apiece, Ally Townsend dove for 19 digs and Voltz collected 10 kills and three blocks.
Despite being a young team, the Pride have bounced back from tough situations – and head coach Moira Long attributes it to good leadership and communication.
“Leadership’s been outstanding,” Long said. “We worked a lot on direct communication, setting standards and expectations, and building a strong culture. Ally, Riley and Morgan are our captains and we’ve seen great leadership from them, as well as Natalie. At different moments we’ve seen leadership from everyone from our team, so that’s what we’re most proud of.”
Donahue also spoke on being a leader on the team.
“We always mention to the younger players that we’ve been in their position before, and we know that we’re going to get our points, the other team is going to get theirs,” she said. “We talk about this fearless mentality – to swing hard knowing that there’s a back row, setters and blockers to help.”
Springfield starts a small away stretch, playing at 12 P.M. against Emerson on Saturday.
Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics