WORCESTER -- The WPI volleyball team suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of NEWMAC-rival Smith on Tuesday night at Harrington Auditorium. The Pioneers used set scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-19 to move to 9-5 overall, and 3-0 in conference play, while the Engineers fell to 4-7, 1-2.
 
WPI was paced by Emily Hudson's (Melrose, MA) eight kills, while Catherine Reynolds (Concord, NH), Olivia Deckers (Marlboro, MA), and Zeala VanDamme (San Diego, CA) had six each. Reynolds added 11 assists and eight digs, while Lily Eldridge (Danvers, MA) had a team-high 14 assists. Victoria Escuer (Caracas, Venezuela) led all players with 14 digs
 
Abby Hunt (Mandeville, LA) led the Pioneers with 13 kills, tallying just one error to hit .600 in the match. Olivia Mendoza (Chino Hills, CA) and Abby Sweeney (Spring, TX) each notched six kills with two blocks each. Ruby Woodward (Winchester, MA) had 17 assists, while Meg Hopkins (Matthews, NC) recorded 15. Olivia Teske (Minneapolis, MN) led Smith with seven digs.
 
Smith held WPI to a .000 offense in the first set, opening the match with a 25-20 win. The Engineers looked strong early on, jumping out to an 8-3 advantage before the visitors used an 8-1 run to go up 11-9. After three more ties, Smith surged ahead again going up 21-15 on a Hunt kill. With the Pioneers up 24-17, WPI spoiled set point three times before a Mendoza kill sealed it for Smith.
 
The Pioneers' momentum carried over into set two, opening the frame on a 7-2 run. Smith led by as many as seven before the Engineers rallied to make it 16-12 on an Audrey Stroupe (Leesburg, VA) winner. WPI later got the deficit down to 20-17, but Smith closed the set with a Sweeney kill and an ace to go up 2-0 in the match with a 25-20 result.
 
The visitors closed out the sweep with a 25-19 win in the third frame. After WPI scored the first point, Smith used a 9-2 run to take over the set. The Pioneers led by as many as 10 (19-9) and WPI had one last rally in the tank, cutting the deficit to six (20-14) before Smith finished out the win at 25-19.
 
Both teams continue NEWMAC play this weekend. WPI plays at Coast Guard at 1pm on Saturday, while Smith plays Friday at Wellesley at 7pm.