Women's Volleyball Cruises Past Wheaton in Straight Sets

Springfield, Massachusetts - The Springfield College women's volleyball team earned its fourth-straight victory as it cruised past Wheaton College in straight sets in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday evening in Blake Arena.  The Pride won by the scores of 25-17, 25-18, 25-20.

Springfield now stands at 13-2, 5-1 in NEWMAC play, while Wheaton dropped to 6-10, 1-3.

Kelsey McGayhey (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Kayleigh Helgesen (Oceanside, Calif.) were dominant on the right side as they combined for 20 kills at a .542 clip.  Molly Giannattasio (East Lyme, Conn.) and Marnae Mawdsley (Bolton, Conn.) directed Springfield's offense, which entered the night with the top team hitting percentage in the country, to a .391 percentage in the victory as they combined for 36 assists.  Hannah Lozano (Stockton, Calif.) was credited with a match-high 16 digs and the middle block duo of Elise Brogan (Andover, Mass.) and Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.) chipped in with 12 kills and 10 blocks.

Wheaton was limited to a .119 hitting percentage in the loss, despite Claire Cansler, Taylor Matook, and Arieane Creighton each tallying seven kills apiece.  Deidre Wilson ran the offense with 23 assists to go along with six kills and five digs, while both Olivia Wilson and Jodi Katz notched six digs each.
After a kill from Wilson trimmed Springfield's lead to 13-11 in the opening set, the Pride rattled off five-straight points, highlighted by a pair of Jennifer Hurwitz (Longmeadow, Mass.) kills off the block, as the hosts lead ballooned to 18-11.  The Lyons answered with three-consecutive points of their own to climb within 18-14, only to have Holt hammer a ball out of the middle on the ensuing point to fuel Springfield to a 25-17 first-set win.  Both McGayhey and Hurwitz led Springfield with three kills each in the frame.

Springfield's offense was especially impressive in the second set, hitting at a .481 clip.  Helgesen hammered a cross court kill to put Springfield ahead, 18-11, only to have the Lyons pour on a 4-0 burst to force Springfield into its first timeout of the evening following a big swing from Wilson.  However, Springfield was too strong down the stretch, with a kill from Hurwitz sealing the 25-18 win.

The third was the closest, as Wheaton battled within 9-8 until Holt ripped a ball in transition to push kickstar a Springfield burst that gave them a 13-8 lead.  The Lyons got as close as 17-14 on a Wilson kill, on to have Brogan deliver two kills and team up with McGayhey for a huge block to give Springfield a 20-14 cushion.  Springfield, which totaled 17 kills in the frame, completed the sweep after Helgesen blistered her fifth kill of the set for a 25-21 win.

Springfield will travel out of region this weekend when it heads to New Jersey where it will play at the Kean Invitational and go up against Frostburg State, Kean, Trine, and Olivet