NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Smith College swept a pair of matches Saturday at Ainsworth Gymnasium, topping Wheaton College 25-22, 25-18, 25-20 in NEWMAC play before handling Westfield State University 25-16, 25-11, 25-22. The Bears served 31 aces on the day and improved to 15-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
Against Wheaton, Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) led Smith with nine kills and four aces, and Anna Feuer (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) added eight kills on 11 swings without an error for a .727 hitting percentage. Alison Chapin (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley High School) had three kills, four aces, six digs and a block. With the first set tied at 13, Chapin served four straight points, including back-to-back blocks by Uma Schulz (Riverwoods, IL/Deerfield High School), and she ended the set with a kill. Feuer had four kills in a six-point run that put the Bears up 6-1 in the second set, and Klunder later served three straight aces to stretch a 15-13 lead to 18-13. In the third, Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, TN/East Hamilton High School) served six straight points with two aces to turn a 7-7 tie into a 13-7 lead.
Suzuki finished with 15 assists, two aces and five digs against the Blue, and Ruby Woodward (Winchester, MA/Winchester) added four assists. Ruth Tullis (Edmond, OK/Oklahoma Christian School) led the back row with nine digs and two aces. Nola Gannon (Dallas, Texas/Townview TAG) hit .273 with three kills and two blocks, and Schulz also had two blocks as Smith out-blocked Wheaton 6-2. The Bears also had more aces than Wheaton, 12-4, and held the Blue to a .133 hitting percentage. Mary Caroline Mazzanti led Wheaton with 13 kills.
Smith hit .310 against Westfield State and out-killed the Owls 36-21 while holding them to a .120 attack percentage. Stella Jones (Harrisonburg, VA/Spotswood High School) had seven kills on eight swings without an error, Klunder had seven kills, two aces and four digs, and Feuer had five kills on six attempts with two aces and a block. Isis Boyd (San Diego, California/Del Norte High School) added five kills, and Schulz had four kills and a block assist.
The Bears served 19 aces against Westfield State, led by Tullis with five. Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, HI/'Iolani School) opened the match with two aces, Tullis served two more in a five-point run that closed the first set from 20-16, and Suzuki served the final seven points of the second set. Smith pulled away in the third set on a five-point Klunder service run that broke a 6-6 tie. Suzuki dished 17 assists, Woodward added six assists and two aces, and Maddie Hliboki (Valley Village, CA/Harvard Westlake) led the defense with five digs. Sara Warren (Long Beach, CA/Sato) hit .667 with two kills. Zaida Colon paced Westfield State with five kills.
Feuer was named player of the game after totaling 13 kills on 17 swings without an error (.765) on the day. Klunder led all Smith players with 16 kills and six aces over the two matches. Suzuki finished with 32 assists, Tullis had seven aces and 12 digs, and Chapin added six aces.
Smith returns to Ainsworth Gymnasium on Tuesday, Oct. 6, to host WPI at 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.
