ALLIE ROONEY ‘16
SPORTS EDITOR
The Smith College volleyball team began NEWMAC play on Tuesday Sept. 16 against Clark University. The Pioneers traveled to Worcester and were victorious by a 3-1 margin over the Cougars, according to the Smith Pioneers website.
Smith won the first set, 25-18, then lost the second set 25-19. The Pioneers then took the next two sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-22 respectively. Mei-Li Smith ’16 led Smith’s offense with 14 kills, eight assists, and 13 digs. Allison Hardy ’17 also added nine kills and 16 digs for the Pioneers. First year Jenna Rubin had five kills for the offense as well. Dayra Diaz Marquez ’18 led the team with 21 assists and was one of five Smith players to have at least 10 digs throughout the match. Defensive specialist and team captain Samantha Danguilan ’15 had 14 digs while Julie Voorhes ’17 added 17 digs.
The Pioneers then traveled to Babson Park to face another NEWMAC opponent, the Babson College Beavers. The Pioneers fell three sets to zero on Saturday, Sept. 20. Again, Marquez sparked the Pioneers’ offense with a team-high 12 assists, 10 digs, and three kills. Hardy had six kills and 13 digs and classmate Voorhes had 14 kills.
The Pioneers are now 6-6 overall and 1-1 in NEWMAC play. They will host fellow NEWMAC opponent Springfield College on Thursday, Sept. 25 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Saturday, Sept. 27.
