NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — No. 21 Smith College Volleyball (21-1, 7-0 NEWMAC) puts a 12-match winning streak on the line at Emerson College (14-4, 5-2 NEWMAC) on Tuesday, Oct. 20. First serve at Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gymnasium in Boston is set for 7 p.m. The Bears swept Salve Regina and Simmons at home Saturday to extend the best start in program history, and they are 5-0 in true road matches this season.

Smith at Emerson
Tuesday, Oct. 20 | 7 p.m.
Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gymnasium | Boston, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY

Emerson leads the all-time series 9-5 in a matchup that dates back to 2013. Smith has won the last two meetings after Emerson won seven straight from 2014 to 2019. The Bears are 2-4 in Boston, including a four-set win on Oct. 22, 2024, and a 3-2 comeback on Nov. 1, 2022, that sent Smith to the NEWMAC semifinals. Smith is 4-8 against the Lions in conference play.

LAST MEETING

Smith swept Emerson 25-19, 25-16, 25-16 at Ainsworth Gym on Oct. 21, 2025. The Bears built a 13-6 lead in the opening set and scored the first four points of the second. Smith hit .318 with 10 aces and 11 blocks and held Emerson to .082. Alison Chapin (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley High School) had 11 kills on .526 hitting, Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) added eight kills and five blocks, and Anna Feuer (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) posted five blocks. Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, HI/'Iolani School) handed out 20 assists with two aces, and Maddie Hliboki (Valley Village, CA/Harvard Westlake) had 13 digs and two aces.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

Smith beat Salve Regina 25-21, 25-14, 25-10 and Simmons 25-13, 25-17, 25-22 on Saturday. The Bears hit .341 and .301 and held both opponents under .080. Klunder had 23 kills on the day, with 10 on .500 hitting against Salve Regina and 13 kills, nine digs and two aces against Simmons. Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, TN/East Hamilton High School) served eight straight points, four of them aces, in the third set against the Seahawks and finished with five aces and 13 assists. Olivia Mendoza (Chino Hills, CA/Ruben S. Ayala) had 11 kills without an error across both matches. Higashihara totaled 35 assists, Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay) added seven kills and 11 digs against Simmons, and Uma Schulz (Riverwoods, IL/Deerfield High School) posted seven kills and three blocks against Salve Regina.

Chapin leads the Bears with 179 kills, or 3.09 per set, and averages 3.58 in NEWMAC play. Feuer is hitting .434 with 145 kills and leads the team with 82 blocks, or 1.28 per set. Etheridge has 140 kills, Schulz has 119 kills and 53 blocks, and Sara Warren (Long Beach, CA/Sato) adds 55 blocks. Higashihara has 377 assists, or 5.63 per set. Suzuki has 293 assists and a team-high 43 aces. Ruth Tullis (Edmond, OK/Oklahoma Christian School) leads the back row with 183 digs, or 3.10 per set, and averages 3.67 in conference play. Smith is hitting .257 and holding opponents to .114.

SCOUTING THE LIONS

Emerson beat WPI 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 25-12) on Saturday at Harrington Auditorium, snapping a three-match skid. First-year right side Addie Wooten had a season-high 16 kills on .333 hitting, and sophomore Lizi Horning added 14 kills. Junior setter Chloe Hokenson posted 23 assists, nine kills and 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Senior Lauren Yoo had 20 digs, sophomore Catherine McDonough added five kills and three blocks, and Emma Luehring had four blocks. The Lions hit .345 in the fourth set. Emerson fell 3-0 (25-23, 27-25, 25-17) to MIT on Oct. 13, after a 3-2 home loss to Emmanuel and a 3-0 loss at Babson. The Lions opened 13-1, a run that included a five-set win over then-No. 25 NYU on Sept. 12 and a 3-2 win at Springfield on Oct. 3.

Through 15 matches, senior outside hitter Rachel Dickerson led Emerson with 177 kills, or 3.16 per set. Horning had 154 kills and Wooten had 121 on .260 hitting. Hokenson had 315 assists, or 5.63 per set, along with 118 kills on .283 hitting, 138 digs and three triple-doubles. Junior Sophia Schiappa added 219 assists and a team-high 42 aces. Yoo led the back row with 235 digs, or 4.20 per set, and 35 aces, and McDonough led the team with 34 blocks. Emerson was hitting .231 and holding opponents to .149. The Lions are 7-2 at home.

COMMON GROUND

Smith won 3-1 at Babson on Sept. 26. Emerson lost 3-0 at Babson on Oct. 6. Smith won 3-1 at Springfield on Sept. 29, and Emerson won 3-2 there on Oct. 3. Smith beat WPI 3-1 at home on Oct. 6, and Emerson won 3-1 at WPI on Saturday. Both teams beat Endicott 3-1, and both have swept Clark, Salve Regina and Simmons.

BEAR BITES

Smith is 5-0 in true road matches and 6-1 at neutral sites this season. A win Tuesday would give the Bears three straight wins over Emerson for the first time; their longest win streak in the series is two matches. Klunder passed 100 kills for the season Saturday, making her the fifth Bear to reach triple digits this fall. Feuer has 336 career blocks. Smith has 208 aces to its opponents' 125 and averages 2.18 blocks per set to its opponents' 1.31.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 12: Smith's current winning streak
• 5-0: Smith's record in true road matches
• .114: opponents' hitting percentage against Smith
• 5: Bears with 100 or more kills this season
• 2: Smith's straight wins over Emerson

UP NEXT

Smith hosts No. 11 Wesleyan in the NESCAC-NEWMAC Challenge on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at Ainsworth Gym.

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.