Owls Fall to Smith in Four Sets

Westfield, Mass. – The Westfield State Owls dropped the opening match of the hall of fame tournament (26-28, 13-25, 25-20, 7-25) to Smith College at Ainsworth Gymnasium on Friday night.

In set one, the Owls pushed the Pioneers to the brink as the set was tied at 21. However, back-to-back kills by first-year Abby Sweeney (Spring, Tex.) closed out the opening set, 28-26.

Smith sprung out to a quick 5-0 lead in the second set, but the Owls would rally back as a kill by senior Shawna Crowley (Billerica, Mass.) cut the deficit to one point, 7-6. The Pioneers would answer mid-way through the set, tallying eight of the last eleven points. Smith would eventually pull away and comfortably take set number two.

The Owls responded in set three, as sophomore Bridgette McAndrews (Longmeadow, Mass.) led a five-point run in the service game, including two aces, to give Westfield State momentum and eventually a set three victory.

The Pioneers would finally take control of the game as Smith scored the first eight points in set and then conclude the match on a 13-2 run to win the match.

The sibling duo of Shawna and Ashley Crowley (Billerica, Mass.) along with McAndrews each had a team-high eight kills. Jess Haradon (Mansfield, Mass.) recorded eleven digs, and Julia Dangel-Garcia (Ashland, Mass.) compiled 25 assists. Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev.) and Julia Bartiet (Cheshire, Conn.) each had two blocks.

Sweeney posted a game-high 15 kills for the Pioneers while Olivia Smith (Mill Valley, Calif.) added double digit kills (11) and digs (11). Gabby Beckman (Aurora, Colo.) tallied 14 digs and Nathalie Park (Lexington, Mass.) assisted on 18 kills.

Westfield State will continue their participation in the hall of fame tournament as the Owls will play two matches tomorrow starting with Amherst at 1:00 P.M. followed by Mount Holyoke at 3:00 P.M. Both games will be played at Amherst College. Smith will also continue in the hall of fame tournament with two games against Hamilton College and Bates College.