The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

The Springfield College women's volleyball team advanced to the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals after it topped Wheaton College, 3-0, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday evening in Blake Arena.

The Pride won by the scores of 30-20, 30-25, 20-36 and improved to 23-9 on the season. The Lyons season comes to a close as it finishes with a 22-13 record.

In game one, after a back-and-forth start led to the game being knotted at 11, the Pride went on a 7-2 run capped off by a Jessica Baldwin (Fairport, N.Y.) service ace to force a Wheaton timeout. After the timeout, the Pride continued to roll, outscoring the visitors 12-6 down the stretch to take a 30-20 first game victory.

The Pride raced out to a quick 5-0 lead in the second game before a Rae Bradley kill capped off a four-point run for the Lyons, bringing them within one at 5-4. The teams would continue to trade points until the Pride went on a 6-0 run after the game was tied at 13. Bethany Stosz (Amherst, Mass.) highlighted the run for Springfield as she registered three kills. The Lyons, however, would get within four at 26-22 after a Lauren Kraus (Westboro, Mass.) kill. The Pride was too much down the stretch, taking the second game 30-25.

Once again, the Pride used a quick start to take control the third game early. Back-to-back service aces from Aylene Ilkson (Baldwin, N.Y.) gave the Pride an 8-2 lead and forced a Wheaton timeout. Slowly the Lyons chipped away at the lead, before the game was eventually tied at 16 after a Pride service error. Trailing by five at 26-21, the Lyons went on a 5-0 spurt to get within one before a pair of Stosz kills put the Pride up for good at 28-25.

Ilkson led the way for the Pride in the match with a game-high 15 kills to go along with 17 digs. Stosz added 14 kills while Heidi Yohe (Deer Park, Wash.) recorded nine kills and a team-best 18 digs. Kelsea Hellyar (Fairhaven, Mass.) directed the offense with 41 assists and added 15 digs.

Kristen Hunt (Milford, Conn.) registered a match-high 20 digs for Wheaton. The Lyons offense was held to just a .029 hitting percentage on the evening as Natasha von Sonn (Burback, Calif) and Kraus each had six kills in the match.

The third-seeded Pride will square off against the second-seeded Wellesley Blue on Friday evening at MIT.

Springfield Womens Volleyball Advanes to NEWMAC Semifinals