SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Despite a match-best 15 kills from junior Emma Sweeting, the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team could not overcome a strong effort from the Pride of Springfield College, falling 3-0 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday night.
Springfield won by the set scores of 25-18, 25-14, 25-14 to improve to 15-5, 6-2 in league play. The Lyons now stand at 2-17, 0-8.
Kelsey McGayhey (Shelter Island, N.Y.) produced a team-best 11 kills at a .444 clip, while Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.) posted 10 kills on 13 errorless swings, hitting .769, to go along with a match-best five blocks. Whitney Miller (Cuba, N.Y.) handed out 28 assists and tacked on four aces, and classmate Amy Entel (Berkley, Mass.) was credited with a match-best 10 digs.
Springfield hit .312 for the match, including topping the .400 mark in both the first and third sets.
For the visitors, Sweeting (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.) led all players with 15 kills. Additionally, Sweeting moved into fifth on the all-time career kills list for the Lyons, she now has 674. Natalie Lyon (Oakton, Va.) was credited with 19 assists, while Susie Gardiner (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.) added eight digs as Mount Holyoke was held to a .022 hitting percentage for the night.
The visitors hung tough to start the match, trailing 12-11 after Springfield's third attack error of the early going. The Pride eventually began to distance itself, using a block from Holt and Rebecca Higgins (Orchard Park, N.Y.) to force Mount Holyoke into the first timeout of the evening at 15-11.
Springfield kept things going out of the break, as Holt hammered a slide and Kerry Purcell (Massapequa, N.Y.) delivered consecutive aces to balloon the score to 18-11. Springfield, which hit .400 in the frame, didn't look back as it eventually took the opening set, 25-18. McGayhey, Holt, and Hannah Andres (West Barnstable, Mass.) each posted four kills for the Pride.
Springfield carried that momentum into the second set, scoring the first six points of the frame, with Amanda Palladino (Cheshire, Conn.) posting two blocks in the surge. Two-straight aces from Miller pushed the hosts lead to 17-6, only to have the visitors benefit from three-straight Springfield errors to climb within 19-12. The Pride answered back with four-straight points, and Holt put the exclamation point on the frame with a thunderous kill off a slide for a 25-14 win.
Five quick kills from McGayhey, coupled with a pair of Miller aces, put Springfield in control with an early 8-1 cushion. Despite having its way offensively, Springfield could not shake thevisitors, and head coach Moira Long called for her timeout of the night after Sweeting's 15th kill of the night brought the Lyons within 16-12. Mount Holyoke committed three-straight attack errors out of the break, giving the hosts a cushion it wouldn't relinquish en route to another 25-14 win. The Pride hit a match-high .478 in the third and final set.
The Pride will travel out of region this weekend to compete in the Osprey Classic hosted by Richard Stockton University in New Jersey. Mount Holyoke is in action on Saturday at the NEWMAC/Little East Challenge, hosted by Plymouth State. The Lyons will face the host Panthers at 11am and Keene State at 12:30pm.
Story courtesy of Brian Magoffin, Springfield Sports Communications.
