SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College volleyball team opened its home and conference schedule against Smith College on Tuesday night, and the visiting Pioneers came away with a 3-0 victory after prevailing in the crucial second set.

Smith (6-2) won by set scores of 25-16, 28-26 and 25-19. The Pioneers, who list nine players on their roster as 6-feet tall and up, withstood a strong bid from the Lyons (3-4) to tie the match at 1-1, and they rode the momentum into an outstanding third set in which they atacked at a .452 rate as a team, with 15 kills against one attack error.

Abby Hunt starred headed the Smith attack with 11 kills on 14 attempts (.714), while Abby Sweeney and Mia Mosckici conributed nine and eight kills respectively.

Mount Holyoke continued its strong service game this season with 13 aces, including four apiece by first-year Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) and senior Marion Abeja (Kumi, Uganda). Duffrin led the Lyons with 13 assists, while Abeja added four kills, seven digs and three blocks.

First-year Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) posted a team-high seven kills with six digs and three aces.

The Lyons will play a non-conference match at Dean College on Thursday before returning to NEWMAC action with a home match against MIT on Saturday.