Allie Rooney ’16
Sports Editor
The Pioneers’ last season has been filled with accomplishments. Smith’s tennis team went 2-6 during their fall season, an improvement from last year.
The team’s wins came against NEWMAC opponents Emerson College and Clark University. Kelli Cheung ’17, Jordan Dubin ’15, Margaret Anne Smith ’17, Christine Yee ’17 and Ruth Yi ’18 represented the tennis team on the Academic All-Conference team. Senior captain Dubin commented on the season, saying, “The team is comprised mostly of underclassmen and despite a slow start, we finished the season on a high note and everyone came together during the NEWITT Tournament.”
Field hockey finished the season with a 5-13 overall record. The team was comprised of seven new first-years and was led by seniors and captains Jenny and Kristen Estes and Rebecca Meagher. Marissa Vara ’16 led the team with 12 goals on the season and Julia Hamilton ’18 led the team with four assists. Speaking of the season, Hamilton said, “I’ve never been part of a team that is such a cohesive unit on and off the field. We all get along so well, which contributed so much to our growth as a team throughout the season.”
Cross country’s season will officially end on Saturday, Nov. 22 when standout Katie Ferrall ’16 will represent Smith College at the NCAA Division III Championship race in Mason, Ohio. The junior placed 17th at the NCAA New England Regional on Saturday, Nov. 15. She earned All-New England and NCAA All-Region honors at the race on Saturday as well. Ferrall is the first athlete to qualify for the national race since 2008. The team was also led throughout the season by Danielle Opatovsky ‘16 and Katie Stephens ‘18 who both finished within the top 75 at the Regional race.
Smith’s volleyball team finished the season at 6-21. The team was recognized as the winner of the NEWMAC Sportsmanship Award for the third time in the nine years that the award has been given. Samantha Danguilan ’15 was the team’s lone senior and registered 262 kills on the season as a defensive specialist. The team co-hosted the 2014 Hall of Fame Tournament the weekend of Oct. 25 where Lauren Shaffer ’17 was named to the All-Tournament team. Dayra Diaz Marquez ’18 led the team with 306 total assists in the season.
The Smith soccer team finished the season 6-8-3 and 4-4-2 in NEWMAC play. The team was the only fall team to qualify for postseason play, qualifying for the NEWMAC Tournament for the first time since 2007. The team’s postseason dreams were cut short when they fell to Babson College 2-1 in overtime in the first round of the tournament. The team was led by two seniors, Jenna Bicierro and Olivia Ruiz. First-year goalkeeper Shelby Hall and junior Jordan Houston earned All-NEWMAC First-Team honors after Hall had an amazing debut career for the Pioneers, earning ECAC player of the week twice and Smith athlete of the week three times. Houston, who led the team with seven goals this season, commented, “I’m really proud of how the team played this year. We had some big adjustments coming into the season, but everyone stepped up and made it possible for us to reach our goal which was making it to the postseason tournament.”
