General

NEWMAC Women's Volleyball Championship Semifinal Field Set

No. 8 Wellesley 0, No. 1 MIT 3- Final 

Top-seeded and nationally ranked No. 12 MIT defeated No. 8 seed Wellesley College, 25-19, 25-14, 25-21, in the first round of the NEWMAC Women's Volleyball Championship on Tuesday night in Rockwell Cage. Sophia Song led all players with a career-high 17 digs and four aces for the Engineers while Kaija Kunze-Hoeg powered the Blue with eight kills and 12 digs.
 
In the first set, MIT opened the match with eight unanswered points and maintained a comfortable cushion, reaching set point at 24-17 on a kill by Kayleigh May. Wellesley capitalized on a serving error and a kill by Logan Wilson to extend the frame; however, a kill from Ella Zhou thwarted the late rally.

The Engineers won five of the first six points in set two before going on to capture the set, 25-14, on a kill by Eileen Sadati.

A pair of errors gave the Blue a 5-3 edge in the third set, but a hitting error sparked an 8-1 run that put MIT ahead for good. Wellesley stayed close as two hitting miscues and a block by Natalie Dabrowski and Ella Mancuso narrowed the gap to 18-16. The Engineers responded with a 6-1 burst as a kill from Claire Underwood resulted in match point. The Blue countered with four unanswered points, trimming the deficit to 24-21. MIT ended the comeback attempt courtesy of another Underwood kill.

Zhou finished with a match-high 10 kills and added 12 digs as Ali Gibbs produced nine kills, two aces, and two blocks.

Sadati posted eight kills, followed by seven from Underwood. May dished out 35 assists while Daphne Gavros generated 15 digs and two aces.

Dabrowski and Mancuso both notched five kills and five blocks as Else Kunze-Hoeg totaled 20 assists, 12 digs, and two blocks. Caroline Meyer paced Wellesley with 16 digs.

MIT will host No. 5 seed U.S. Coast Guard Academy in the semifinals of the NEWMAC Championship on Saturday, November 15 at 1:00 PM.

This will be the fifth postseason meeting between the teams and the first since the Engineers swept the Bears in the semifinals of the 2021 NEWMAC Tournament.

No. 7 Mount Holyoke 1, No. 2 Babson 3 – Final 
 
First-year Liberty May recorded 14 kills and sophomore Angelina Holm added 13 kills and four blocks to help second-seeded Babson College defeat seventh-seeded Mount Holyoke College in four sets, 25-13, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16, in a NEWMAC Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.
 
Babson, which has won three straight and seven of its last nine matches, improves to 21-6 on the year and advances to the NEWMAC semifinals for the 11th tournament in a row. Mount Holyoke sees its year come to a close at 15-14 after qualifying for the conference tournament for the first time since 2006. 
 
Holm made just one error and finished with a .522 hitting percentage, junior Hailey Fouche handed out 47 assists, and first-year Ailsa Munro and Devon Burke contributed eight kills apiece for the Beavers. Holm and Ackerman both registered three service aces, and senior Sophia Shaw led all players with 13 digs.
 
Senior Elle Rimando recorded a match-high 17 kills, classmate Madeline Barton produced 14 kills, and sophomore Olivia Murray chipped in with 11 kills to lead the Lyons. Senior Sadie Duffrin handed out 36 assists, while classmate Amelia Ringor had a team-high 11 digs.
The Green and White led throughout the opening set, building a quick 7-2 lead that never got closer than three. Holm and Fouche recorded four kills apiece and combined for three service aces as the Beavers .500 as a team and took their largest lead of the frame at 24-12. 
Game two featured 16 ties and four lead changes, with teams separated by no more than two points until late. Mount Holyoke took its largest lead of the stanza at 13-11 on one of just three attack errors in the game by the Beavers, and were clinging to an 18-17 advantage before succumbing to a late 8-2 run by the Green and White.
Burke followed up back-to-back errors by the Lyons with a kill to make it 20-18, Fouche sandwiched a block in between two kills by Holm to extend the margin to 24-20, and Holm and Ackerman combined for a block on set point to go up 2-0 in the match. 
Mount Holyoke led by as many as three four times in the third set, the last coming at 13-10, and withstood a late Babson rally to extend the match. The Beavers took their only lead of the stanza at 17-16 and used a kill by Fouche and a block by Holm to pull even at 23-all before the Lyons used a Rimando kill and an attack error on game point to close things out.
The Green and White responded with a dominant fourth-set performance, jumping out to a 7-1 advantage and hitting .484 while recording 18 kills to put away the Lyons.
Babson will face third-seeded Springfield in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in Cambridge, Mass. 

No. 6 Emerson 0, No. 3 Springfield 3 – Final 

The third-seeded Springfield College women's volleyball team advanced to the NEWMAC Championship Tournament semifinal round following tonight's sweep over sixth-seeded Emerson College in the conference quarterfinals in Blake Arena.

Springfield, which improved to 23-6 overall, defeated Emerson (14-15) by set scores of 25-18, 25-21, 25-13 and will take on second-seeded Babson College at MIT in Cambridge on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm.

Emily Keaveney played her best match of the season as she hit .529 with ten kills and just one error to go along with seven digs and three aces. The middle duo of Aubrey Hughes  and Jodi Saelua combined for 17 of Springfield's 41 kills and nine total blocks, while Ahunna James added seven kills, two aces, four blocks and ten digs and Tori Colosimo registered 31 assists, 12 digs, two blocks and two aces. As a team, Springfield hit .333 on the night and held Emerson to a hitting percentage of .082.

Emerson held a 14-13 edge in the first before a kill from James ignited a 5-1 run for Springfield that also featured a block from Saelua and Alexa Bonato. The Lions climbed back within one at 18-17, but a swing by Keaveney sparked Springfield's offense as the Pride scored seven of the first set's final eight points to win it 25-18. The set-ending run featured two kills from Hughes and was capped on an ace by Colosimo.

Springfield scored the first four points of the second as back-to-back swings by Hughes opened the stanza. Emerson was able to eventually tie the score at 13, and following a string of six straight points by the Lions, the visitors took a 20-17 lead. Springfield answered as two errors and a kill from Saelua knotted the score at 20 before five straight points that featured kills from Saelua and Aurissa Boardman and an ace from James secured the second 25-21.

The third set was all Springfield as the Pride raced out to an 8-3 lead following a block from Saelua and James. An ace from James made it 12-4, and Springfield eventually led by 12 at 21-9 after a string of kills from Hughes and Keaveney. Two swings from Boardman, including the final one on the night, gave Springfield a 25-13 win in the third and pushed the Pride into the semifinal round once again.

Chloe Hokenson led the way for Emerson with nine kills and seven digs. Sami Kim added 10 digs. 

No. 5 Coast Guard 3, No. 4 Smith 0 - Final 

The fifth-seeded Coast Guard Bears topped No. 4 Smith in three close sets, 25-23, 25-23, and 25-20 in the quarterfinals of the 2025 NEWMAC Volleyball Championship. 

With the win, the Bears advance to the semifinals to face MIT on Saturday, November 15, at 1:00 p.m. Smith closes out their season at 19-12 overall. 

Amelia Matson led the way for Coast Guard with seven kills and 15 digs. Laila Baameur also added 15 digs in the win. Samantha Ventimiglia added eight kills. 

The first set was a back-and-forth affair, with Smith pulling out to 17-13 lead. Coast Guard wouldn't surrender, and would eventually pull even at 18 on a kill by Holly Davis. Smith would once again pull ahead, leading 23-21 on a kill by Abby Hunt. Coast Guard would then go on to score the next four points to win the set. 

Smith would jump out to a 6-0 lead in the second set before Coast Guard answered with a kill by Sarah Somer. Smith would maintain the lead until another kill by Somer tied up the set at 17. The two teams would exchange the lead two more times before Matson tallied a kill to end the set. 

Set three was yet another battle of the Bears, as the two teams ended up knotted at 18. Coast Guard would score seven of the next nine points, punctuated by a kill by Abigial Schweitzer, to win the set and the match. 

Alison Chapin led Smith with 14 kills, while Ruth Tullis led Smith with 15 digs. 

About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with eight Associate Members: Brandeis University (Women's Lacrosse, 2026-2027), New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 20 sports.
 

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