NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — No. 21 Smith College Volleyball (19-1, 6-0 NEWMAC) returns to Ainsworth Gym for a tri-match on Saturday, Oct. 17. The Bears host Salve Regina (6-12, 1-4 NEWMAC) in conference play at 1 p.m. and Simmons (11-6, 7-1 GNAC) at 5 p.m., with the Seahawks and Sharks meeting at 3 p.m. Smith enters on a 10-match winning streak after sweeping Clark on Tuesday, a win that gave the Bears the best 20-match start in program history. Smith is 8-0 at home this season.

Smith vs. Salve Regina
Saturday, Oct. 17 | 1 p.m.
Ainsworth Gym | Northampton, Mass.

Smith vs. Simmons
Saturday, Oct. 17 | 5 p.m.
Ainsworth Gym | Northampton, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY

Smith leads the all-time series with Salve Regina 5-2 in a matchup that dates back to 2013. The Bears have won the last four meetings and are 3-0 against the Seahawks in NEWMAC play. Salve Regina's last win in the series came in four sets in Newport, R.I., on Sept. 7, 2019.

Simmons leads the all-time series 6-5 in a matchup that dates back to 2012. Smith has won the last two meetings after Simmons won five straight from 2015 to 2022. The Bears are 3-4 at home against the Sharks.

LAST MEETING: SALVE REGINA

Smith won 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 24-26, 25-19, 15-7) at Rodgers Recreation Center in Newport on Oct. 18, 2025. After Salve Regina took the second and third sets, the Bears won the fourth behind a five-point run and opened the fifth with a 5-1 lead. Smith finished with 60 kills and 10 blocks. Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay) posted 26 kills on 46 swings (.478), Miranda Oakes (San Francisco, CA/San Francisco University) added nine kills and four blocks, Ruby Woodward (Winchester, MA/Winchester) had 22 assists and three aces, and Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) recorded seven kills and 11 digs.

LAST MEETING: SIMMONS

Smith swept Simmons 25-23, 25-20, 25-16 at Ainsworth Gym on Oct. 12, 2024, after sweeping Wellesley earlier that day. Simmons pulled within one late in the first set before the Bears closed it out. Smith hit .357 in the third set, with Etheridge and Anna Feuer (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) supplying key kills.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

Smith has won 10 straight. On Tuesday the Bears swept Clark 25-23, 25-10, 25-23 at Kneller Athletic Center. They outhit the Cougars .250 to .071 and held edges in aces (8-7) and blocks (7-4). Alison Chapin (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley High School) had nine kills without an error on 14 swings (.643) in two sets. Feuer added six kills on 10 errorless attacks and six blocks, Klunder posted six kills and nine digs, and Sara Warren (Long Beach, CA/Sato) had four kills and four block assists. Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, HI/'Iolani School) handed out 20 assists with three aces and 11 digs. Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, TN/East Hamilton High School) added 12 assists and closed the match with an ace. Natalia Rossi (Mebane, North Carolina/Eno River Academy) served five straight points to open the third set and finished with three aces.

Chapin leads the Bears with 179 kills, or 3.09 per set, and averages 3.58 in NEWMAC play. Feuer is hitting .431 with 138 kills and leads the team with 80 blocks, or 1.31 per set. Etheridge has added 126 kills. Higashihara has 342 assists, or 5.61 per set. Suzuki has 266 assists and a team-high 37 aces. Ruth Tullis (Edmond, OK/Oklahoma Christian School) anchors the back row with 181 digs, or 3.23 per set, and averages 4.10 in conference play. Smith is hitting .252 and holding opponents to .118.

SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS

Salve Regina fell 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-20) to Wheaton on Tuesday in Newport despite out-blocking the Lyons 11-3. Anouk Jansen led the Seahawks with 10 kills. Lauren Shurling added six kills, two aces and four blocks, and Frankie Spadorcia posted six blocks. Kalena Stavish had 10 assists and Madelyn Homer had seven digs. Salve Regina won 3-1 at Massachusetts Maritime on Oct. 9, and its lone NEWMAC win was a 3-0 sweep of Clark on Sept. 22.

Jansen leads the Seahawks with 205 kills, or 3.25 per set, and is hitting .214. Shurling has 162 kills and a team-high 28 aces. Spadorcia is hitting .255 and leads the team with 47 blocks, and Jenna DeFrancesco adds 111 kills and 36 blocks. Stavish has 289 assists, or 4.38 per set, and Kate Andy has 193. Lily Dobbins leads the back row with 236 digs, or 3.58 per set. Salve Regina is hitting .151 and holding opponents to .162.

SCOUTING THE SHARKS

Simmons dropped the opening set and then won the next three to beat Albertus Magnus 3-1 (16-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-16) in GNAC play on Thursday in New Haven, Conn. A 9-0 run in the fourth set sealed the win. Senior outside hitter Hannah Pridgeon had 20 kills, her second 20-kill match this season. Kira Buonopane added 12 kills and two blocks. First-year setter Gabrielle Pattie handed out 26 assists and served eight of the Sharks' 12 aces. Carolina Rodriguez posted 19 digs and passed 300 for the season. The win came two days after a 3-0 non-conference loss at Wentworth, and Simmons' lone GNAC loss came against Regis on Oct. 6. Pridgeon was named GNAC Player of the Week for the third straight week on Oct. 5, and Pattie earned her fourth consecutive GNAC Setter of the Week honor the same day.

Pridgeon leads Simmons with 213 kills, or 3.33 per set, and averages 3.70 in GNAC play. She has also added 168 digs. Addison Evans has 141 kills and 23 aces. Buonopane is hitting .256 with 118 kills and leads the team with 42 blocks, and she is hitting .343 in conference play. Pattie has 514 assists, or 8.16 per set, and a team-high 27 aces. Rodriguez leads the back row with 303 digs, or 4.73 per set. Simmons is hitting .157 and holding opponents to .144.

COMMON GROUND

Smith beat Union 3-1 on Sept. 19. Salve Regina lost 3-2 to Union on Sept. 5. Smith swept Westfield State and Wheaton at home on Oct. 3. Salve Regina swept Westfield State on Sept. 19 and lost 3-0 to Wheaton on Oct. 13. Both Smith and Salve Regina have swept Clark.

Smith swept Colby-Sawyer on Sept. 4. Simmons beat Colby-Sawyer 3-2 on Oct. 1. Both Smith and Simmons have swept New England College.

BEAR BITES

Smith climbed three spots to No. 21 in this week's AVCA Division III poll, one week after earning the first Top 25 ranking in program history. The Bears and No. 10 MIT are the only unbeaten teams in NEWMAC play. Higashihara served six straight points, including two aces, in the second set at Clark as Smith scored 11 of the set's first 14 points. Feuer's six blocks Tuesday raised her career total to 334. Smith has 193 aces to its opponents' 118 this season.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 10: Smith's current winning streak
• 8-0: Smith's home record this season
• .118: opponents' hitting percentage against Smith
• 4: Smith's straight wins over Salve Regina
• 3.58: Chapin's kills per set in NEWMAC play

UP NEXT

Smith visits Emerson in NEWMAC play on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. in Boston.

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