SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Addison Klunder had 15 kills and Taylor Gwynne tallied 45 assists, five kills and 11 digs as Smith College defeated the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team 3-1 (25-17, 25-13, 19-25, 25-16) Tuesday night in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium, in the NEWMAC opener for both teams.
The visiting Pioneers (12-1, 1-0 NEWMAC) captured their fifth straight victory this season and their fifth in a row against the Lyons (8-3, 0-1 NEWMAC).
Smith attacked at a .336 percentage for the match, including a .333 rate for Klunder. Mia Etheridge had 10 kills on .400 hitting, Abby Sweeney added nine kills on .316 hitting, and Abby Hunt contributed seven kills on .333 hitting. The Pioneers had eight team blocks and 11 service aces to help their cause, with Sweeney posting six blocks and Claudia Poehlmann leading the Pioneers with three aces.
Mount Holyoke attacked at a percentage of .117 as a team.
Junior Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) had 11 kills and senior Lucie Berclaz (Hull, Mass.) added 10 kills. First-year Olivia Murray (Miami, Fla.) led the Lyons in efficiency, putting down eight kills with no errors on 14 attempts (.571).
Sophomore Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.) totaled a match-high 20 digs and junior Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) had 31 assists.
Smith won the first two sets handily and seemed on the verge of a rout with a .474 attack percentage in the second set to Mount Holyoke's .000 rate.
The Lyons perked up in the third set, attacking at a .233 rate to Smith's .200, as Barton exploded for six kills on 10 attempts in the set.
Smith took an early lead in the fourth set and held on to it, with Mount Holyoke closing within a point at 11-10, 12-11, 13-12, and 14-13. Smith extended the lead to 17-13 thanks to a kill and an ace by Klunder. After a Smith service error closed the score to 19-16, Smith reeled off the final six points of the match, with Poehlmann and Sweeney combining on blocks for the final two points.
Mount Holyoke will play a NEWMAC match at Salve Regina on Saturday at 1pm; the Pioneers play a NEWMac match at Clark University on Saturday at 1pm.
