October 27, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Smith Volleyball Defeats Wheaton 3-2

Northampton, MA: The Pioneers defeated Wheaton College in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action this afternoon in Northampton. The win solidified Smith's 5th place in the NEWMAC standings and improved the team's overall record to 17-13 and conference record to 5-4. The loss dropped the Lyons (22-12, 4-5) to sixth place in the standings.

The Pioneers won the first game 30-25 but Wheaton took the next two 30-26 and 30-20 to go up 2-1.  Smith won the fourth game 30-21 and in the fifth tie-breaker, came from a 4-10 deficit to win 16-14.  Mikal Minarich (Hobart, IN) tallied a triple double for the Pioneers with 10 kills, 27 assists and 13 digs.  Senior co-captain Catherine Shafer (Red Bluff, CA) had 23 kills, 34 digs and 7 service aces, Bethany Weiss (Windham, NH) tallied 11 kills with 1 ace served, Brianne Connizzo (Demarest, NJ) added 28 digs and Lauren Martinez (Phoenix, AZ) dished out 24 assists and served 3 aces.

First year Sam Andreacchi (Burlingame, CA) led the Lyons with 19 kills and 23 digs while classmate Becca Rose (Sudbury, MA) added 48 assists, 3 service aces and 22 digs. Natasha von Sonn (Burbank, CA) had 16 kills and Kristen Hunt (Milford, CT) 29 digs in the loss for Wheaton.

Both teams will compete in the NEWMAC Championship which begins on Tuesday, October 30.  Fifth seed Smith will travel to fourth seed Coast Guard while sixth seed Wheaton will travel to third seed Springfield for 7 p.m. matches.