SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Springfield College defeated the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team in straight sets on Saturday, rising to 5-2 in NEWMAC play with the Pride's seventh victory in their past eight matches.
As a team, Springfield (14-5, 5-2 NEWMAC) hit .346 as Riley Donahue led the Pride with 14 kills on 25 swings. Natalie Billet posted eight kills on 17 errorless swings (.471), while Ahunna James added seven kills and hit .429 and Maeve Voltz tallied six kills and hit .385. Voltz also contributed seven total blocks, while DeLorenzo dished out 30 assists and posted nine digs, and Billet registered a team-best three aces to go along with nine digs.
Junior Madeline Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) led the Lyons (10-8, 1-6 NEWMAC) with 10 kills on 24 attempts (.167), while junior Elle Rimando (Mililani, Hawaii) added seven kills on 12 attempts (.417) to go with two blocks. Sophomore Kyra Staples (Chatham, Ill.) led Mount Holyoke with nine digs.
Springfield raced out to a 10-2 advantage in the opening set and forced Mount Holyoke to call an early timeout following an ace by Billet and a kill by Donahue. The Pride went up by as many as 11 points at 14-3. Mount Holyoke got as close as nine points at 18-9, but with DeLorenzo at the service line, Springfield posted five straight points capped by a block from Voltz and James. Voltz and Billet teamed up for a block on the final point as Springfield won the first, 25-12.
Donahue led the Springfield offense with six kills on 10 swings and Billet registered all three of her aces in the middle set. The Pride again jumped out to the early 7-2 edge. The Lyons closed the score to 18-16, forcing Springfield to call a timeout following a pair of errors, but the Pride scored seven of the final nine points of the set for a 2-0 lead in the match.
Springfield hit a match-best .412 and posted a match-best 17 kills in the final set as the Pride secured the sweep with a 25-20 win. Mount Holyoke took an early edge at 7-4 in the stanza, but a kill by Donahue ended the run and pushed momentum back to the Pride. Back-to-back kills by Donahue made it a one point game before Springfield eventually tied the score at 10-10 and took the lead for the final time on at 11-10 on a swing by James.
Mount Holyoke will host WPI in a NEWMAC match Tuesday at 7pm.
