NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - The Springfield College women's volleyball team captured a three-set win over Smith College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) battle at Ainsworth Gym Thursday evening. Set scores were 25-20, 25-7, 25-15.

With the win, Springfield is now 9-3, 3-1 in league play, while the Pioneers drop to 2-8, 0-4.

The Pioneer defense came out strong, limiting the Pride's offense to a .194 hitting percentage in the first set.

Springfield responded in the second, hitting .448 en route to a 2-0 match lead. 

The Pride jumped out to an 8-0 advantage as Springfield went on to sweep 3-0.

Springfield, which was once again receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Coaches Poll, was led by Jennifer Donnelly's match-high 12 kills. Lauren Holt produced nine kills and eight blocks while hitting .444, and Marnae Mawdsley orchestrated the offense as she handed out 26 assists to go along with seven digs. Anagabrielle Sanchez led all players with led all players with 21 digs.

For the Pioneers, Kimani Freeman (Newark, N.J./Montclair Kimberly Academy) had four kills, while Maca Rojas (Santiago, Chile/Liceo No. 1 Javiera Carrera) notched 10 assists. Julie Voorhes (Ramona, Calif./Ramona) recorded a team-high 14 digs for the Pioneers. 

Smith will be back in action on Saturday when they host a tri-match with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers and Simmons Sharks. Smith and MIT will meet at 12:00 p.m.