SPRINGFIELD - The Smith College volleyball dropped its second five-set conference match of the season as it fell to host Springfield on Tuesday in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match. The scores in favor of the Pride were 25-15, 25-19, 21-25, 25-27, 15-11. 

Springfield improves to 17-6 on the year and wrapped up its NEWMAC slate with a 7-3 record. The Pioneers fell to 19-10, 4-5. 

Set 1
Tied up at 11 in the first, Springfield used a 3-0 point burst capped off by a transition kill from Natalie Billet to force Smith into a timeout.  After the visitors pulled within 17-14, Springfield ended the stanza on an 8-1 push behind the strong serving of Billet, as she had two of the Pride's four aces in the set.  

Set 2
Trailing 12-10 midway through the second, Springfield scored the next five points as the Pioneers committed four attack errors, with Gentry getting in on a pair of blocks.  Springfield would push its lead to 19-15 on a stuff block from Voltz before the visitors 12th attack error of the set would give the Pride a 2-0 lead in the match following the 25-19 win.  

Set 3
The third set featured nine ties and was back-and-forth in the early going before Springfield was able to open up a 14-11 edge as Smith burned a timeout.  Springfield would own a 19-17 lead late in the stanza, only to have Smith pour on an 8-2 surge to pull away with the 25-21 victory.  The Pride was held to a -.032 hitting percentage in the set.

Set 4
Smith carried that momentum into the fourth and raced out to a 6-0 advantage.  Springfield would go to its bench and head coach Moira Long's substitutions responded, battling all the way back to take a 22-21 lead after Voltz buried a kill on a slide.  Smith fought off a pair of match points, including at 25-24 as the Pride thought it had won the match, only to be called for a blocking error.  Consecutive attacking errors by Springfield closed out the 27-25 win for Smith as the match went to a fifth set. 

Set 5
Three quick kills from Donahue set the tone for Springfield as it jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the fifth.  Smith would battle its way back to 12-0, before Voltz delivered a kill and Townsend followed with an ace for match point.  Two points later, Donahue would elevate for her fourth kill of the set as Springfield secured its seventh conference win of the year. 

Highlights

• Sarah Dankovich (El Paso, TX/Coronado) turned in a team-best 15 kills to go along with 13 digs
• Sophia Padilla (Fontana, CA/Saint Lucy's Priory) added 31 assists and six digs, while Nathalie Pak (Lexington, MA/Lexington) finished with eight
• Gabby Beckman (Aurora, CO/Grandview) notched 10 digs and Miranda Oakes (San Francisco, CA/San Francisco University) totaled seven block assists in the setback

Up Next
Smith will play its final game of the regular season Saturday, October 26 at Babson at 1:00pm. 

(Portions courtesy to Springfield Athletics)

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.