Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The Smith College volleyball team fell in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match to Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3-0 (20-25, 20-25, 21-25) on Tuesday night.  Smith drops their fourth straight match to fall to 7-11 overall and 1-5 in the NEWMAC, while MIT ups its record to 18-5, and 4-2 in NEWMAC play with their third consecutive win.

The Engineers jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the first set, but Smith reeled off 10 of the next 16 points to take an 11-10 lead.  Two more Smith points increased the Pioneers lead to 13-10, and forced MIT to call a timeout.  The Engineers regrouped to even the match at 13, and after the teams traded points to tie the match at 16, MIT closed out the set by outscoring Smith 9-5 to take the set 25-20.

MIT looked to run away with the second set, opening up an early 7-2 lead that turned into a 13-5 advantage.  Smith got within 21-10, but then scored six of the next seven to get within 22-16, and MIT called timeout.  Smith pulled within 23-19, but the Engineers ended the set with the score 25-20.

The Pioneers broke out to an early 6-1 lead in the third set, but the Engineers cut the lead to 11-10 with a 9-5 spurt.  The teams traded points, but MIT took a 20-18 lead and never looked back, taking the set 25-21.

Smith was led by Blair Bell (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair Kimberly)'s 12 kills and seven digs, while Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) had eight kills, seven digs, a solo block, and a service ace.  Hayley Bezubka (N. Kingstown, R.I./N. Kingstown) had 13 assists, and Bethany Ashworth (North Falmouth, Mass./Bourne) had a team high 15 digs.

Celcily Joujon-Roche led MIT with 12 kills, while Tatiana Berger had eight.  Katie Spielbauer had 15 digs, and Nicole Gagnier had 31 assists.  Kristine Bunker had five blocks.

Smith will host the Little East/NEWMAC Challenge this weekend, squaring off with Plymouth State University at 12 p.m. and Keene State College at 2 p.m.  MIT will participate in a quad match with Williams, Western New England, and UMass-Boston.