South Hadley, Mass. - October 15, 2019 - Despite 12 kills and six digs from Sarah Bishop (Rutland, Mass.), the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team fell to visiting Springfield College, 3-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday evening in Howard Gymnasium.
With the loss, the Lyons drop to 5-15 overall with an 0-7 mark in league play, while the Pride is now 16-6 overall with a 3-4 record against NEWMAC foes. The Lyons fell by the set scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-22.
Along with 12 kills from Bishop, Gabrielle Davis (Keller, Texas) picked up five kills, while Marianne Simon (Miami, Fla.) finished with four. Chelsea Galicia (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) notched 15 digs in the setback, while Alexandra Keough (Endicott, N.Y.) handed out a team-best 10 assists and a team-best three aces.
Trading points in the early stages of the first set, Mount Holyoke College took an 11-9 lead over the Pride on a kill from Simine, but Springfield answered with 9-0 run to take an 18-11 lead in the frame. With Demi Spanos (West Harrison, N.Y.) serving tough, Katie vonKampen (South Setauket, N.Y.) picked up three-consecutive kills for the maroon and white to take a 19-13 lead late in the set. Bishop would pick up a kill to make it 23-15, but the Pride would answer with back-to-back kills from Julia O'Connor (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and Spanos to take the 25-16 set victory.
Springfield jumped out to a 7-2 advantage in the second set to force a timeout from the Lyons' bench. Coming out of the break, Mount Holyoke College was able to scratch to within three points, trailing 11-8 following kills from Bishop and Simine. The Pride would open a 15-8 lead midway through the stanza before Stella Madden (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) produce a kill and Anagabrielle Sanchez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) delivered an ace to complete the 25-18 victory and give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Entering the third set, an ace from Keough gave the Lyons an early 3-2 lead before back-to-back errors from the Pride made it 8-5, Mount Holyoke College. Springfield would wrestle back the lead and maintain a four-point margin until a kill from Davis pulled the Lyons to within one, still trailing 18-17. From there, Sara Labadorf (Huntersville, N.C.) had back-to-back aces to force match point, before the Lyons put a serve into the net to give the Pride victory.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will return to Howard Gymnasium on Thursday, October 17 and will host local-foe Elms College at 7 p.m.
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