Blue Volleyball Drops Match to Smith, 3-1

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Sophomore Miranda Oakes (San Francisco, Calif.) had seven of Smith's 22 blocks to help the Pioneers (10-5 Overall, 4-0 NEWMAC) earn a 3-1 (15-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-17) NEWMAC victory over Wellesley College volleyball on Friday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

Junior Abby Sweeney (Spring, Texas) and first year Anna Feuer (Frederick, Md.) combined for nine additional block assists while classmate Mia Etheridge (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) had a match-high 14 kills. Sophomore Olivia Teske (Minneapolis, Minn.) and senior Gabby Beckman (Berthoud, Colo.) both had double-digit digs and grad student Meg Hopkins (Matthews, N.C.) led the match with 18 assists.

Sophomore libero Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) and first year Mary Beeler (Menlo Park, Calif.) combined for 37 digs for the Blue (8-4 Overall, 2-2 NEWMAC) while first years Madeline Zornek (Orlando, Fla.) and Noelle Winn (San Francisco, Calif.) had a total of 29 assists. First year Kate Giang (Corte Madera, Calif.) had a team-high 13 kills.

Wellesley led from 4-4 onward in the first set with a 6-0 run setting the tone for the Blue, who won the final four points of a 25-15 set.

The Pioneers led 6-2 in the second set before Wellesley scored four consecutive points to regain momentum. The teams stayed in striking distance of one another for the remainder of the set, with the Blue saving a set point at 24-23 before Smith finished off a 26-24 effort with two kills from Etheridge.

The two teams were knotted up as late as 17-17 in the third set before the Pioneers won eight of the final 10 points, including a kill from Etheridge to wrap up a 25-19 set.

The Blue took the first four points of the fourth set but Smith launched an offensive campaign to run the score up to 16-6. Wellesley clawed back late but the Pioneers closed out a 25-17 set for the match.

The Blue head to Eastern Nazarene for a 6:00 PM non-conference contest tomorrow and the Pioneers host Springfield on Tuesday, October 3 at 7:00 PM.