NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The Smith College volleyball team (1-2, 0-1 NEWMAC) will take part in their only tri-match of the season when they travel to MIT to take on the Engineers (8-1, 1-0 NEWMAC) in a NEWMAC contest, and Simmons College (5-4) in a non-conference matchup on Saturday.


Last Meeting (MIT): Smith fell to the Engineers in three sets, 20-25, 20-25, 21-25, on October 11, 2011.

Last Smith Win (MIT): Smith topped MIT in five sets at the Volleyball Hall of Fame Tournament on October 23, 2004, winning 30-19, 28-30, 30-28, 26-30, 15-11.

Last Meeting (Simmons):  This is the first meeting between the schools.

Smith Overview: The Pioneers fell in a close matchup in their NEWMAC opener to Babson College on Tuesday night.  Trying to force a fifth set, the Pioneers fell 24-26 to seal the match.  Smith struggled on offense, hitting just .146 for the match.

MIT Overview: MIT has won four in a row, including a 3-0 win over Clark University in the NEWMAC opener on September 11.  In the Engineers' four game win streak, MIT has won each match 3-0.

Simmons Overview: The Sharks have won three of four, including wins over Maine Maritime and Massachusetts Maritime.  Simmons has alternated wins and losses in their first eight matches of the year.

Smith Player to Watch: First year Mei-Li Smith (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) is becoming a force at the net (26 kills), and on defense (36 digs, four total blocks without an error).

MIT Player to Watch: Setter Nicole Gagnier averages nearly nine assists per game, running the offense for MIT.

Simmons Player to Watch: Raeann Nesta is hitting .311 with 97 kills thus far this year.

Did you know? Amongst NEWMAC teams, only Mount Holyoke and Smith have played less than seven matches this season.