NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Fourth-seeded Smith College Volleyball (25-5, 9-2 NEWMAC) opens the NEWMAC Championship against fifth-seeded Springfield College (20-6, 8-3 NEWMAC) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Ainsworth Gymnasium. The winner advances to the semifinals Saturday at Babson. The teams met once in the regular season, and Smith won 3-1 at Blake Arena on Sept. 29.
Springfield at Smith
NEWMAC Quarterfinal
Tuesday, Nov. 10 | 7 p.m.
Ainsworth Gymnasium | Northampton, Mass.
Watch: FloSports
Tickets: $10 through the NEWMAC Box Office. NEWMAC students get in free with a student ID.
SERIES HISTORY
Springfield leads the all-time series 59-6, which dates to 1974. The Pride won 23 straight meetings from 2005 to 2024. Smith has now won two of the last three. The Sept. 29 win was the Bears' first at Springfield since 1989. Smith is 3-31 at home in the series, and its last home win over the Pride came 3-1 on Sept. 24, 2005. Tuesday is the third NEWMAC Tournament meeting between the programs in four seasons. Springfield won a 2023 quarterfinal 3-1 at Blake Arena. In the 2024 semifinals at MIT, Smith came back from two sets down to win 22-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25-23, 15-10. The next day the Bears beat MIT in five sets for their first NEWMAC title since 2005.
LAST MEETING
Smith saved seven set points in a 27-25, 25-21, 20-25, 31-29 win at Blake Arena on Sept. 29. Springfield had three set points at 24-21 in the first set before the Bears closed on a 10-3 run. Natalia Rossi (Mebane, North Carolina/Eno River Academy) served an ace for the lead, and Alison Chapin (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley High School) scored three of the last four points. Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, TN/East Hamilton High School) served seven straight points, with three aces, to break open the second set. Smith erased four more set points in the fourth, and after Springfield tied it 29-29, Uma Schulz (Riverwoods, IL/Deerfield High School) put the Bears ahead with a kill. Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay) ended the match on a kill set by Chapin. Chapin had a double-double with 20 kills and 18 digs. Anna Feuer (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) added 12 kills on .391 hitting and four blocks. Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, HI/'Iolani School) had 27 assists and 13 digs, and Ruth Tullis (Edmond, OK/Oklahoma Christian School) matched Chapin with 18 digs. Jodi Saelua led Springfield with 15 kills on .343 hitting, Ahunna James had 14 kills and 12 digs, and Tori Colosimo had 39 assists.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
Smith beat Wellesley 20-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-17 on Saturday to close the regular season. The Bears trailed 22-18 in the third set and scored five straight points, the last four with Tullis serving. They then hit .462 without an attack error in the fourth. Chapin had 16 kills on .438 hitting, and Smith outhit Wellesley .331 to .162.
Chapin leads Smith with 291 kills, or 3.34 per set, on .297 hitting. In NEWMAC play those numbers rise to 3.71 kills per set and .338 hitting. Feuer is hitting .403 with 193 kills from the middle and leads the team with 116 blocks, or 1.23 per set. Etheridge has 206 kills and 187 digs, and Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) has 160 kills and 138 digs. Schulz adds 149 kills and 75 blocks, and Sara Warren (Long Beach, CA/Sato) has 68 blocks. Higashihara has 528 assists, or 5.56 per set. Suzuki has 412 assists and a team-high 57 aces, and Rossi has 33 aces. Tullis leads the back row with 232 digs and a .934 reception percentage. As a team, Smith is hitting .258 and holding opponents to .130.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE
Springfield lost 3-1 at No. 22 Babson on Saturday in its regular-season finale, which snapped a six-match winning streak. Alexa Bonato had 11 kills in that match, Gabbie Weissgarber and James had 10 each, and Avery Chandler served eight aces. The Pride's best result this season was a 3-1 win over then-No. 3 MIT on Oct. 17 at Blake Arena. It was the Engineers' first regular-season NEWMAC loss since 2023. Springfield's three league losses came against Smith, Emerson and Babson.
Saelua leads the Pride with 249 kills, or 2.54 per set, on .327 hitting, and has 105 blocks. Bonato has 207 kills. James adds 161 kills and 186 digs, and Weissgarber has 151 kills, 63 blocks and 49 aces. Colosimo runs the offense at 8.81 assists per set, hits .377 and leads the team with 261 digs. Caroline Burg (241 digs) and Karenna Allain (184 digs) anchor the back row. Springfield serves aggressively, with 295 aces, or 2.98 per set. The Pride are hitting .208 and holding opponents to .119.
COMMON GROUND
Both teams played 14 of the same opponents. Smith went 13-2 in those matches and Springfield went 12-2. The two biggest differences came against the top of the league. Smith won 3-1 at Babson and lost 3-1 to MIT. Springfield beat MIT 3-1 and lost 3-1 at Babson. Both teams lost to Emerson, Smith 3-1 on the road and Springfield 3-2 at home. Smith beat Wellesley and Coast Guard in four and three sets, while Springfield needed five and four. Both teams beat WPI and Union in four sets and swept Wheaton, Mount Holyoke, Clark, Salve Regina, Westfield State and Colby-Sawyer.
BEAR BITES
Smith, MIT and Emerson all finished 9-2 in the NEWMAC, one match behind Babson, and the Bears were seeded fourth. Smith is 13-3 at home this season and opened 19-1, the best start in program history. The Bears have 267 aces to their opponents' 184 and have outblocked opponents 236-137.5. Last season ended in the quarterfinals with a 3-0 home loss to Coast Guard. Smith reached the semifinals in 2024 and won the title.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
59-6: Springfield's lead in the all-time series
7: Set points Smith saved in the Sept. 29 win
3: NEWMAC Tournament meetings between the programs in the last four seasons
3.71: Chapin's kills per set in NEWMAC play
.403: Feuer's hitting percentage
2.98: Springfield's aces per set
UP NEXT
The winner advances to the NEWMAC semifinals Saturday, Nov. 14, at Babson College.
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.
