NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Fourth-seeded Smith College came back from a set down twice to beat No. 5 seed Springfield College, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the NEWMAC Women's Volleyball Championship on Tuesday night at Scott Gym. The Bears won 14-25, 25-19, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13 to advance to Saturday's semifinal round.
Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay) led Smith with a match-high 17 kills on .429 hitting and added two aces and nine digs. She had five kills and no errors in the deciding fifth set, including the match-winner. Alison Chapin (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley High School) added 13 kills, and Anna Feuer (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) had seven kills and a match-high eight blocks, three of them solo. Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) had eight kills and four blocks, and Uma Schulz (Riverwoods, IL/Deerfield High School) hit .429 with seven kills. Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, HI/'Iolani School) (25 assists, eight digs) and Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, TN/East Hamilton High School) (19 assists, two aces) ran the offense. Ruth Tullis (Edmond, OK/Oklahoma Christian School) led the back row with 14 digs.
Springfield won the first and third sets with long serving runs from Urissa Stephens. She served six straight points, three of them aces, to turn a 7-6 Smith lead into a 12-7 Pride edge in the opener. In the third set she served six more in a row to break a 16-16 tie. Smith answered both times. In the second set, Higashihara served the first four points and the Bears pulled away to a 23-13 lead. In the fourth, Etheridge's serve fueled five straight points from a 6-6 tie, with two aces. Springfield got within 20-19, but Klunder put down a kill, and with Tullis serving, Feuer added a kill and took part in back-to-back blocks to make it 24-19.
The fifth set was tied 11 times. After Ahunna James tied it 13-13, Chapin's kill gave Smith match point, and Etheridge ended the match on a set from Suzuki. The Bears hit .368 in the fifth set and held Springfield to .130. Springfield had more kills (64-55) and more aces (12-7), but Smith outblocked the Pride 9-8 and benefited from 12 Springfield service errors. James and Gabbie Weissgarber led Springfield with 14 kills each, Stephens added 11 kills and five aces, and Tori Colosimo finished with 46 assists.
Smith (26-5) faces Babson in the NEWMAC semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday.
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.
