Smith Downs MIT 3-2 in NEWMAC Championship, Ending 31-Game Winning Streak
In a tight, back-and-forth outing, Smith College upset No. 4 MIT on Sunday in five sets, ending their season-long 31 game winning streak and preventing them from claiming their 4th straight NEWMAC title. Smith defeated MIT by set scores of 25-17, 21-25, 25-21, 16-25, and 15-11.
In the first set, MIT fell to a 6-12 deficit that quickly grew to 13-22. Despite scoring 3 of the next 4 points, MIT could not overcome Smith’s early momentum and fell short in the set.
In the second set, MIT broke out to a 5-0 lead, forcing Smith to take a timeout. Smith then battled back to even the set 8-8. Sparked by a kill by Consecrata Rozario G, MIT went on a 10-1 run. Smith promptly responded and brought the game within a point, 22-21. Two straight kills by Rozario and a service ace by Ella Gragg ’25 ended the set in favor of MIT.
The third set was largely controlled by Smith; after opening with a 6-1 run, Smith never gave up control of their lead. While MIT brought the deficit down to 18-21, late efforts by Gragg and Elise Echarte ’27 to extend the set fell short as Smith squashed MIT’s comeback attempt, taking the frame 25-21.
MIT found its rhythm in the fourth set. Led by Ali Gibbs ’26 and Echarte (both of whom scored 4 kills each in this set), MIT took advantage of several attacking errors by Smith to win the set 25-16.
Smith opened the fifth set with a 5-1 rally, capturing momentum to push the score to 9-3. Despite their attempts to battle back, MIT could not overcome their early deficit and eventually lost the set 11-15, sealing the night’s outcome in the process.
Despite failing to claim their conference title, the Engineers still have more volleyball ahead of them. Their impressive regular season record earned them an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They will play host to a region of the tournament, welcoming Colby College, the University of La Verne, Maine Maritime Academy, Messiah University, UMass Dartmouth, NYU, and William Smith College.
MIT is currently slated for their Round of 64 match against Maine Maritime Academy on November 21st at 7:00 pm at Rockwell Cage. Tickets for their matchup can be found online.