Smith 3, WPI 1

Box Score           

Worcester MA --- Senior Bethany Weiss (Windham, NH) registered 10 kills to go along with four blocks and a ace to lead visiting Smith to a 3-1 victory over WPI in NEWMAC volleyball action Tuesday night.  With the 25-17, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22 win, the Pioneers improve their record to 4-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play.  The Engineers drop to 17-4 on the season and 1-4 in NEWMAC play.

The match as hard fought throughout with neither team enjoying more than a six point advantage.  Smith rallied from a early 5-0 deficit to claim the second set while WPI staved off a match point in the third stanza to claim its first set win over the Pioneers since 1999. 

In addition to Weiss, Smith also received a lift from senior Brianne Connizzo (Demarest, NJ) who tallied 21 digs and an ace and junior Lauren Martinez (Phoenix, AZ) who recorded 17 assists, five digs and a pair aces.  Junior Laurel Belton (San Bernadino, CA) notched 11 digs, eight kills, two aces and one block for the Pioneers.

Freshman Bailey Sarber (Westerly, RI) led the charge for the Engineers coming up with a double-double of 14 kills and 14 digs.  Alex Rangel (Weston, FL) turned in 16 assists on the evening while Becca Holmberg (Madison, CT) and Joan Porambo (Jim Thorpe, PA) had impressive dig numbers of 22 and 18 respectively.    Rookie Belinda Nwagbara (Santa Rosa, CA) aided the Crimson attack with five kills and a pair of blocks.

WPI will play the middle match of a three-game home stand on Thursday when they host Roger Williams at 7pm.  Smith plays its second road contest as in many nights on Wednesday when they head to Amherst for a 7pm matchup with the Lord Jeffs.