ELMIRA, NY. - The Smith College volleyball team beat Alfred State, 3-1 and swept Elmira College in their season opening matches at the Elmira Invitational on Friday evening. 

 

Highlights

• The first set of the afternoon started off with Smith going on a 8-2 run, with kills from Claudia Poehlmann (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech), Abby Hunt (Mandeville, LA/Fontainebleau) and Miranda Oakes (San Francisco, CA/San Francisco University). 

• Smith continued their run to extend the lead to 19-6 with kills from Hunt and Graduate Student Taylor Gwynne (Chapel HIll, NC/Carrborro) leading the charge. 

• In the second set, Alfred State was the team to get out on a fast run as they took advantage of reception and attacking errors from Smith building a quick 4-0 lead. 

• Smith responded with a run on their own and retook the lead at 8-7 with a kill from Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay).

• Smith pulled away, maintaining the edge over the Hawks for the remainder of the period finishing ahead 25-17.

• Alfred State began the third set with a 6-2  advantage until Smith came back and tied the game 8-8 with another kill from Taylor Gwynne (Chapel HIll, NC/Carrborro) who finished with 8 kills and 36 assists during the first game. 

• The teams exchanged the lead until the Hawks finished with a the edge 26-24 to bring the overall score to 2-1. 

• In the fourth set, it started off with a back and forth battle, until Gwynne would go on a four point serving run to balloon the lead to 12-7.

• Smith continued an aggressive attack until they finished 25-14 and claimed the 3-1 victory over Alfred State.

• In the next match, against Elmira College, it was a back and forth battle with the Soaring Eagles, as Smith started with a 7-1 run before Elmira battled back to tie the game 11-11. 

• Elmira would take the 17-14 lead later in the first set, but Smith would continue to fight and only allow Elmira to score one more point and would win the set 25-18. 

• SarahDankovich would lead the attack from behind the service line during the next set, going on a six point run to push Smith to a quick 12-5 lead. Smith would finish out the set winning 25-16.

• Smith got off to another fast start in the third set with two blocks from Claudia Poehlmann (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech), allowing Smith to establish a 7-3 lead.

• Smith could continue to push to the finish line, outsourcing Elmira 25-16 in the final set. 

Notes

• In the first match, Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay) total 16 kills on 23 swings with only one error. She also helped on the defensive end with 9 digs. Taylor Gwynne (Chapel HIll, NC/Carrborro) has a double-double with 10 digs and 36 assists. 

• In the second match, Smith had a balanced attack with Olivia Teske (Minneapolis, MN/South High Minneapolis), Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) and Ari Cross (Milwaukee, WI/Rufus King) all hitting over .500. 

 

Up Next

Smith returns to the court in the Elmira Invitational tomorrow on Saturday, August 31 at 11 am against SUNY - Canton. Later they face host Elmira College for a 1 pm contest. 

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, and Instagram.