Volleyball Falls at Smith in ECAC Tournament

Northampton, Mass. - The Framingham State University volleyball team saw their season come to end this evening with a 3-0 loss to Smith College in a quarterfinal match of the 2013 ECAC Division III New England Women's Volleyball Championship.  The Pioneers won by scores of 27-25, 25-20 and 25-22.

Fourth seed Smith improves its record to 22-8 and will take on top seed Salve Regina University in the semifinal round at Western New England University on Saturday.  The fifth seed Rams see their season come to an end with a program-best 26-8 record.

Rosa Drummond led the hosts with 15 kills, six digs, while Paige Sarlandt hit .393 with 13 kills and three solo blocks.  Bethany Ashworth ran the offense with 28 assists and added five digs and a service ace, while Julie Voorhes had 26 digs.  Mei-Li Smith was just shy of a triple-double with 10 kills, eight assists and eight digs.

The first set was tight with the Rams turning a 6-5 advantage into a 16-11 lead that forced Smith into a timeout.  Tthe Pioneers scored the next four points to pull within one at16-15.  A Smith attacking error pushed the Framingham State lead back to 18-15, but Smith scored six of the next nine points to tie the set at 21.  A setting error by the Rams put Smith up 25-24, but Smith returned the favor with a service error.  The Pioneers closed out the set with kills from Mei-Li Smith and Paige Sarlandt.

Smith opened the second set with four straight points, but Framingham ran off the next five for an early 5-4 lead.  Neither team went up by more than two points until Smith went up 14-11 on the strength of two Drummond kills and a Framingham State attacking error.  The Rams tied the set at 20 after a Smith attacking error, but Smith finished out the set with five straight points, including a pair of service aces by Julie Voorhes.

Set three was similar in start to the first two, with neither team leading by more than two until a Bethany Ashworth service ace put the Pioneers up 13-10.  Framingham State scored five of the next eight to tie the set at 15 and increased the advantage to 22-19 when sophomore Danielle Girard (Tivoli, NY) sandwiched two kills around a service ace from freshman Julia Wan (South Deerfield, Mass.).  Smith scored the final six points of the set to secure the victory.    

Senior Andressa Fernandes (Framingham, Mass.) and sophomore Annie DeLoid (Plymouth, Mass.) led Framingham State with eight kills apiece, Girard chipped in with five kills and 10 digs.  Wan finished with 19 digs, six kills and three block assists, while junior Morgan Drew (North Easton, Mass.) had 19 assists.

Release courtesy of Smith Sports Information.