NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — No. 21 Smith College swept both matches of its home tri-match Saturday at Ainsworth Gymnasium. The Bears beat Salve Regina 25-21, 25-14, 25-10 in NEWMAC play, then took down Simmons 25-13, 25-17, 25-22. Smith (21-1, 7-0 NEWMAC) extended its winning streak to 12 matches and its program-best start to 21-1, and improved to 10-0 at home. The Bears hit .341 and .301 in the two wins and held both opponents under .080.

Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) led the attack against Salve Regina with 10 kills on .500 hitting. Eight of them came in the second set, when Smith hit .542 as a team. The opening set had seven ties until Natalia Rossi (Mebane, North Carolina/Eno River Academy) served four straight points to break a 15-15 deadlock. Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, TN/East Hamilton High School) took over the third set from the service line with eight consecutive points, four of them aces, to push a 14-9 lead to 22-9. Suzuki finished with five aces and 13 assists, and Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, HI/'Iolani School) added 14 assists and nine digs. Anna Feuer (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) hit .500 with seven kills, while Uma Schulz (Riverwoods, IL/Deerfield High School) added seven kills and three blocks. Smith has won five straight meetings with Salve Regina and leads the all-time series 6-2.

Klunder followed with 13 kills, nine digs and two aces against Simmons, giving her 23 kills on the day. She passed 100 kills for the season and now has 101. Higashihara's six-point service run broke an 11-11 tie in the opening set. Rossi closed the second with four straight points on serve. Simmons led 22-21 late in the third before Smith scored the final four points, a run that included a Kate Nordyke (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy of Dallas) block and an ace from Klunder. Olivia Mendoza (Chino Hills, CA/Ruben S. Ayala) hit .533 with eight kills and no errors, finishing the day with 11 errorless kills. Higashihara dished out 21 assists, Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay) added seven kills and a team-high 11 digs, and Nordyke posted a team-best three blocks. The win evened the all-time series with Simmons at 6-6 and gave the Bears their third straight victory over Simmons.

Smith returns to NEWMAC play Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Emerson College in Boston, with first serve set for 7 p.m.

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.