United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Volleyball

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.--(11/7/08)--Springfield College women's volleyball team came one step closer to capturing the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) crown as it swept Coast Guard in three games on Friday evening in Blake Arena.

Springfield won the match by the scores of 25-16, 25-16, 25-12.

The Pride now await to see who it will take on in the championship game on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm. Springfield will face either second-seed Wellesley or third-seeded MIT, who play at 7:30 this evening in Blake Arena as well.

With the win, the Pride won its 16th match in a row to improve to 30-4 on the year. The win also gives the Pride its sixth 30-win season under head coach Joel Dearing. Coast Guard's season comes to a close with a 14-16 mark.

The first game was back and forth right from the start as the team's were tied at nine after a Nicole Johnson kill for the Bears. However, Springfield then scored the next seven points as Kelsea Hellyar was relentless from the service line. Heather Lively notched a pair of kills in the run, while Bethany Stosz added a pair of blocks for the Pride. The Bears struggled to fight past the Pride block, as Springfield totaled five team blocks and held the Bears to a .000 hitting percentage.

Springfield opened a quick 4-0 lead to start the second game as Lively put two balls away in the opening four points of the stanza. The Pride continued its pressure as it's lead ballooned to seven after a Sarah Lang-Rodean kill made it 10-3, forcing a USCGA timeout. Coast Guard got within as little as six after a Mary Bitzer kill brought the score to 18-12. Lang-Rodean finished with five kills in the second stanza as the Pride won by a 25-16 count.

In the third stanza, Coast Guard led in the beginning of the game, keeping the Pride attack at bay. With the score 9-8 in favor of the home team after a Nicole Gurr kill, Springfield rattled off three straight points to force another Coast Guard timeout. With the momentum swinging back the Pride's way in the run, Springfield received a double block from Stosz and Lively, a kill from Lively, and a big kill from Lauren Torvi. The Pride's offense was too much to handle in the third game, hitting .400 as a team, as it knocked out 15 kills on 30 attempts with just three errors. Torvi was especially important for Dearing as she hit a perfect 1.000 on five swings. Lively finished the match as she buried a ball from the outside for the 25-12 win.

For the match, Nicole Gurr led Coast Guard with nine kills and two blocks in the final game of her brillant career, while Jessica Anderson added 12 digs. Ashley Bullard handed out 16 assists for the Bears in the loss.

Lively finished with a match-high 13 kills and added two blocks, while Lang-Rodean chipped in with nine kills, hitting .444. Torvi was outstanding as she racked up eight kills and three blocks, hitting .538 for the match. Stosz added four kills, seven digs, and seven blocks. On the defensive side, Aylene Ilkson and Heidi Yohe each recorded 13 digs, while Meaghan Hart registered two aces and six digs. Hellyar paced the Pride attack with 36 assists in the three games.