Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The Smith College volleyball team celebrated their seniors in fine style with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-14) over Mount Holyoke College on Tuesday night. The Pioneers, who clinched a NEWMAC playoff berth, honored
Hannah Schiff (Lenox, Mass./Lenox),
Sonia Brown (Amherst, Mass./Amherst),
Paige Sarlandt (Cloverdale, Calif./Cloverdale),
Bethany Ashworth (North Falmouth, Mass./Bourne), and
Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) before the contest.
Smith improves to 20-7, and 5-4 in the NEWMAC, while Mount Holyoke, which lost its fifth straight, falls to 10-17, and 0-9 against NEWMAC foes.
The Pioneers hit .337 as a team, including a whopping .531 in the first set where they exploded out to a 14-4 lead.
Mei-Li Smith (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) had four kills during that span, while
Kristi Hammond (Yona, Guam/St. Johns School) and Sarlandt added two apiece. Smith led by as many as 17 at 24-7, and Drummond finished off the set with a kill from Ashworth.
The second saw Smith take an early 6-2 lead, but the Lyons pulled back to within 8-6 on a Smith attack error. Smith began to pull away,as Hammond, Drummond, and Sarlandt all recorded kills that upped Smith's lead to 15-10, and Sarlandt sandwiched two kills around another from
Mei-Li Smith (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) to end the second set.
Set three began like the first two, with Smith holding advantages of 7-2, 11-5, and 16-6. The Lyons got within eight at 19-11 on a Smith attack error, but Smith cranked up the heat, scoring six of the final 10 points for the win.
Emma Sweeting led the visitors with seven kills, while Athena Donta had 16 digs. The Lyons hit just .008 as a team.
Mei-Li Smith (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) fell one assist shy of her second triple-double in three matches, while Ashworth had 27 assists and 12 digs, Brown 16 digs, and Drummond 12 kills and three solo blocks.
Hannah Schiff (Lenox, Mass./Lenox) chipped in 10 digs as well for Smith.
Smith could grab the No. 6 seed in the upcoming NEWMAC tournament with a win on Saturday against Wheaton. Mount Holyoke closes out the year at WPI.
