SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Oct. 23, 2012) – Mount Holyoke College battled back for a third set victory, but Smith College held on in the final frame for a 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-21, 25-27, 25-19) in NEWMAC volleyball action on Tuesday at the Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium. With the win, the Pioneers move to 7-17 overall and 3-5 in conference action. The Lyons slip to 3-19 with an 0-8 record in the NEWMAC.
Down 2-0 in sets, Mount Holyoke, which was celebrating its Game of the Week event, saw several players step-up to give the Lyons a 27-25 victory and force a fourth set. Junior outside hitter Martina Kneifel (Oro Valley, Ariz./Canyon del Oro), who made several key kills throughout the match, laid down several important ones in the third frame.
Smith had the momentum to open the third set and led by a 22-18 margin late in the stanza, but Mount Holyoke continued to fight and pulled it to 23-21 on a kill by sophomore opposite Galina Thieme (Hamburg, Germany/Berlin School of Economics). The Pioneers gained the point back, but back-to-back errors on Smith proved costly, tying the set at 24-all.
First year outside hitter Emma Sweeting (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y./Hastings) fired a powerful shot down the middle for the kill and the Lyons first lead, but Pioneers junior outside hitter Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) laid down a kill of her own to tie it back up at 25-25.
Sweeting came up big on the next play with a kill to the left side and Mount Holyoke took the set victory on a service ace by junior Kristina Weld (Warwick, Mass./Pioneer Valley Regional).
The Pioneers stole the momentum back to open the fourth set, but the Lyons continued to push their way back into the frame. A number of impressive kills by senior outside hitter Blair Bell (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair Kimberly) helped give Smith the 22-19 advantage and the Pioneers sealed it on consecutive errors by the Lyons.
For Mount Holyoke, Sweeting finished with 16 kills and 13 digs, while Kneifel added 12 kills and 14 digs. Sophomore setter Stephany Yang (Glen Allen, Va./Henrico) had 28 assists and 10 digs in the match, while classmate and libero Kaleen Iwema (Wadsworth, Ill./Warren Township) recorded 35 digs.
Mount Holyoke, which celebrated and recognized senior captain and outside hitter Kathryn Brummer (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran) prior to tonight's match, is back on the court on Saturday. The Lyons host NEWMAC-rival MIT at 1pm in the regular season finale for both teams. Smith is right back in action on Wednesday, hosting Amherst at 7pm before concluding its regular season schedule against league-foe Wellesley at home at 3pm.
Inside photo of senior captain Kathryn Brummer and her family during tonight's pre-game ceremony in her honor.
