Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The Smith College volleyball team opened up New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Tuesday, with a 3-1 (26-24, 18-25, 18-25, 15-25) defeat to visiting Wellesley College.  It was the first loss of the season for the Pioneers.

Early kills from Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) and Blair Bell (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair Kimberly) put Smith up 2-1 in the first set, and the Pioneers (3-1, 0-1 NEWMAC) opened up a 9-4 lead that forced Wellesley into a timeout.  Another kill from Bell upped the lead to 12-7, and the Blue called another timeout down 21-16.  Wellesley (5-2, 1-0 NEWMAC) pulled withing two points at 23-21, but could get no closer as the Pioneers took the set 26-24.

Wellesley and Smith went back and forth in set two, with Bell evening the set at seven.  A 7-2 run for the Blue put them up by a 14-9 count, and never let Smith back in the game, winning the set at 25-18 and evening the set.  The third set was almost identical, with the two teams tied at six, but an 8-4 run by Wellesley puntucated by a service ace from Vivian Hu put the Blue up 14-10, and though an ace from Sonia Brown (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) pulled Smith within 22-17, the Blue finished off the set by a 25-18 score.

The Blue finished the final set off on an 11-1 spurt - tied at 14, the Blue took over the game thanks to aces from Hu and Megan Mills.

Smith will continue NEWMAC play with a visit from Babson College on Saturday at 1 p.m.  Wellesley will host WPI, also on Saturday at 1 p.m.