SPRINGFIELD, Mass. --October 16, 2007 -- Junior Aylene Ilkson (Baldwin, N.Y.) recorded 15 kills and 15 digs to pace the Springfield College women's volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over Mount Holyoke on Tuesday evening in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference action. The Pride won by the scores of 30-12, 30-14, 30-21. With the win, Springfield now stands at 19-6, 5-2 in league play, while the Lyons fall to 5-15, 1-6.

After a Sarah Lang-Rodean (Mansfield Center, Conn.) kill put Springfield up 7-3 in the first game, the Pride rattled off the next 11 points to take a commanding 18-3 lead. Bethany Stosz (Amherst, Mass.) had four kills in the run for the Pride. Springfield went on to coast to a 30-12 first game win.

In the second game, a kill from Ilkson put the Pride up 15-7 before Springfield would once again go on a big run. The home squad went on a 15-7 run to close out the second game by a score of 30-14. The story in the second game was the Pride's unstoppable offense, as it hit an incredible .448 in the game.

The third and decisive game was back and forth as the visitors would get within 25-20 after a Pride service error. However, Springfield was just too much down the stretch as a trio of kills from Stosz gave the Pride a three-game sweep.

Kelsea Hellyar (Fairhaven, Mass.) directed the Pride offense with 39 assists and added six aces as the squad hit .351 for the match. Ilkson led the way with 15 kills and 15 digs while Stosz chipped in with nine kills. Lang-Rodean finished with 10 kills and four blocks, while Heidi Yohe (Deer Park, Wash.) added nine kills and 12 digs, hitting .444. Sixteen different players saw action in the game for Head Coach Joel Dearing.

Kendall Burns finished with eight kills on the night for Mount Holyoke, while Teresa Campbell added seven.

Springfield returns to action this weekend in the Volleyball Hall of Fame Invitational. The Pride will take on Gordon at Holyoke Community College on Friday at 5:00 pm.

published: 10/16/2007