NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Smith College Volleyball (12-1, 2-0 NEWMAC) continues NEWMAC play Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Springfield College (10-2, 2-0 NEWMAC). First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Blake Arena in Springfield, Mass. Both teams are unbeaten in conference play and enter on winning streaks after road wins Saturday.

Smith at Springfield
Tuesday, Sept. 29 | 7 p.m.
Blake Arena | Springfield, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY

• Springfield leads the all-time series 59-5 in a rivalry that dates back to 1974.
• Smith's most recent win came in the 2024 NEWMAC semifinals, a 3-2 comeback (23-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23, 15-10) at MIT's Rockwell Cage on Nov. 16, 2024. It was the Bears' first win over Springfield since 2005 and helped propl them to a NEWMAC Championship.

LAST MEETING

• Springfield swept Smith 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 at Ainsworth Gym on Sept. 30, 2025.
• Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, CA/Half Moon Bay) led the Bears with nine kills and 10 digs. Skye Higashihara (Honolulu, HI/'Iolani School) handed out 15 assists.
• Springfield hit .237 to Smith's .059 and out-blocked the Bears 10-3.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

• Smith has won three straight. It beat No. 19 Babson 3-1 (25-15, 25-15, 25-27, 25-20) on Saturday at Staake Gymnasium, handing the Beavers just their fourth home loss since the start of the 2023 season.
• Against Babson, the Bears outhit the Beavers .200 to .100 and held a 10-4 edge in aces and a 61-53 edge in digs.
• Etheridge led Smith with 12 kills, three aces, eight digs and 15.5 points. Alison Chapin (Temecula, CA/Temecula Valley High School) added 11 kills and nine digs, and Uma Schulz (Riverwoods, IL/Deerfield High School) hit .467 with eight kills. Anna Feuer (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) posted seven blocks, and Sara Warren (Long Beach, CA/Sato) had five kills and four blocks. Higashihara recorded 23 assists and 17 digs, and Ruth Tullis (Edmond, OK/Oklahoma Christian School) led the back row with 19 digs.
• Etheridge leads the team with 122 kills and 149 points. She has also added 104 digs and a .922 reception percentage.
• Chapin paces the attack at 3.00 kills per set, with 120 kills.
• Feuer is hitting .365 with 75 kills and leads the team with 57 blocks, or 1.39 per set.
• Higashihara directs the offense with 232 assists. Hana Suzuki (Chattanooga, TN/East Hamilton High School) has contributed 167 assists and shares the team lead in aces with Etheridge at 19.
• Tullis anchors the back row with 124 digs, 3.54 per set, and a .925 reception percentage.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE

• Springfield has won two straight and is 5-0 at Blake Arena this season. It beat WPI 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23) on Saturday in Worcester after edging Wellesley 3-2 at home Tuesday.
• Jodi Saelua hit .395 with 19 kills and three blocks against WPI. Ahunna James had 13 kills and 15 digs, and Tori Colosimo posted 50 assists and 11 digs.
• Saelua leads Springfield with 134 kills, or 2.98 per set, and is hitting .379. She also leads the team with 41 blocks.
• Colosimo averages 9.31 assists per set and is hitting .382. She became the fourth player in program history with 3,000 career assists on Sept. 19.
• Zakiya Hiatt adds 2.86 kills per set, and Karenna Allain leads the back row with 106 digs, 2.94 per set.
• Springfield's two losses came Sept. 19 at the Stevens Quad, to Stevens (3-1) and William Paterson (3-0).

COMMON GROUND

• Both teams have swept Colby-Sawyer. Smith won 3-0 at the Bonnie May Invitational on Sept. 4, and Springfield won 25-15, 25-10, 25-11 at the Hawks Invitational in New Paltz, N.Y., on Sept. 11.

BEAR BITES

• Etheridge served three straight aces to put Smith ahead 5-2 in the first set at Babson. The Bears finished the set with five aces.
• Tullis served five straight points in the second set against Babson, turning an 8-4 lead into 12-4.
• Feuer and Warren combined on back-to-back blocks to stretch a 15-12 lead to 17-12 in the fourth set. The pair also saved a set point at 25-25 in the third with a block.
• First-year Natalia Rossi (Mebane, North Carolina/Eno River Academy) served three straight points in the fourth set for a 21-13 cushion.
• Addison Klunder (Los Angeles, CA/The Buckley School) added two kills off the bench in the fourth set. She is hitting .322 on the season.
• First-year Nola Gannon (Dallas, Texas/Townview TAG) and Feuer combined on the match-ending block at Babson.
• Smith has held opponents to a .110 hitting percentage or lower in each of its last four wins: Endicott (.074), Union (.109), Coast Guard (.066) and Babson (.100).

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• Smith is hitting .245 as a team and holding opponents to a .106 attack percentage.
• The Bears average 12.26 kills, 2.36 aces and 2.28 blocks per set.
• Smith leads Springfield in blocks per set, 2.28 to 1.69. Springfield holds the edge in aces per set, 2.93 to 2.36.
• Smith is 2-0 in road matches, 5-0 at home and 5-1 at neutral sites this season.

UP NEXT

• Smith returns to Ainsworth Gym on Saturday, Oct. 3, to host Wheaton in a 1 p.m. NEWMAC match and Westfield State at 5 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.