NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — No. 19 Smith College Volleyball (21-4, 7-1 NEWMAC) travels to Mount Holyoke College (9-9, 2-6 NEWMAC) for a conference match on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. at Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium in South Hadley, Mass. The Bears share first place in the NEWMAC with Babson and look to snap a three-match skid in their final regular-season road match.
No. 19 Smith at Mount Holyoke
Tuesday, Oct. 27 | 7 p.m.
Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium | South Hadley, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
Smith leads the all-time series 53-22 in a matchup that dates back to 1974. The Bears have won eight of the last 10 meetings and are 15-11 in South Hadley. Mount Holyoke won the most recent meeting. Smith's last trip to South Hadley ended in a 3-1 win on Sept. 24, 2024. The Bears' longest winning streak in the series is 14 matches, from 2001 to 2011.
LAST MEETING
Mount Holyoke rallied past Smith 25-20, 16-25, 14-25, 25-20, 16-14 at Ainsworth Gymnasium on Oct. 28, 2025. The Bears won the middle two sets, opening the third on a 10-1 run, and tied the fifth at 12 before the Lyons closed it out. Smith outhit Mount Holyoke .267 to .143 and outblocked the Lyons 14-3, but Mount Holyoke held a 52-47 edge in kills and served 10 aces. Alison Chapin (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley High School) led Smith with 14 kills. Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, HI/'Iolani School) posted 26 assists and 11 digs, Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) added nine kills and three aces, Anna Feuer (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) had four blocks and Maddie Hliboki (Valley Village, CA/Harvard Westlake) had 13 digs.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
Smith dropped a pair of five-set matches at the NESCAC-NEWMAC Challenge at Ainsworth over the weekend. No. 13 Wesleyan rallied past the Bears 25-16, 19-25, 19-25, 25-18, 15-13 on Friday after Smith took a 2-1 lead. Chapin put down 27 kills on .451 hitting, and the Bears saved two match points in the fifth set while outhitting the Cardinals .327 to .281. Trinity (Conn.) won 25-22, 16-25, 15-25, 25-23, 15-7 on Saturday. Chapin had 12 kills and 12 digs, and Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay) added 10 kills and 13 digs for a double-double. Smith held a 12-8 edge in aces.
Chapin leads Smith with 230 kills and ranks fourth in the NEWMAC at 3.19 kills per set. Feuer has 168 kills and leads the conference in hitting percentage (.402) and blocks per set (1.21), with a team-high 94 blocks. Etheridge (167), Uma Schulz (Riverwoods, IL/Deerfield High School) (132) and Klunder (127) have also reached triple digits in kills. Higashihara has 451 assists, and Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, TN/East Hamilton High School) has 340 assists and a team-high 49 aces. Ruth Tullis (Edmond, OK/Oklahoma Christian School) leads the back row with 206 digs, and Sara Warren (Long Beach, CA/Sato) (65) and Schulz (62) follow Feuer in blocks. Smith is hitting .247 and holding opponents to .128.
SCOUTING THE LYONS
Mount Holyoke has lost four straight. The Lyons were swept at No. 24 Babson on Oct. 17, hitting a season-low -.049, and at Springfield on Oct. 20. Connecticut College then beat Mount Holyoke 3-1 at Howard Gym on Friday after the Lyons took the opening set behind a 6-0 run. Salve Regina won 3-1 in a makeup match in Newport on Sunday after Mount Holyoke took the first set 27-25. First-year Eliza Vest had 10 kills, Layla Abdullah and Ellie Molina each added nine, Melina Cudiamat handed out 36 assists and senior libero Kyra Staples had 20 digs.
Before the skid, Mount Holyoke won five of six, including a 3-1 win at Clark on Oct. 6 for its first NEWMAC victory, a five-set win over Wellesley and a sweep of Nichols. Vest leads the Lyons with 204 kills (2.96 per set) and ranks third in the NEWMAC with 0.58 aces per set. Abdullah, a first-year, has 153 kills on .258 hitting and 52 blocks. Cudiamat, also a first-year, ranks fourth in the league at 8.21 assists per set, and Staples leads the NEWMAC at 4.91 digs per set.
COMMON GROUND
Smith won 3-1 at Babson on Sept. 26 and 3-1 at Springfield on Sept. 29; Mount Holyoke was swept by both. Both teams won at Clark, the Lyons 3-1 on Oct. 6 and the Bears 3-0 on Oct. 13. Smith swept Salve Regina at Ainsworth on Oct. 17, five days before the Seahawks beat Mount Holyoke. Both teams also beat Worcester State, Smith 3-0 on Sept. 5 and Mount Holyoke at its home tri-match on Oct. 3.
BEAR BITES
Tuesday is Smith's final regular-season road match; the Bears close with three home dates at Ainsworth. Smith is 5-1 on the road this season, with the only loss at Emerson. Smith and Babson are tied for first in the NEWMAC at 7-1. The Bears have 233 aces to their opponents' 153 and 196 blocks to their opponents' 121.5.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
53-22: Smith's all-time record against Mount Holyoke
7-1: Smith's NEWMAC record, tied for first
.402: Feuer's hitting percentage, tops in the NEWMAC
27: Chapin's kills against Wesleyan
4.91: Staples' digs per set, tops in the NEWMAC
UP NEXT
Smith hosts Keene State at 1 p.m. and Westfield State at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Northampton.
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.
