THE BASICS:
 
- Score: No. 22 MIT 3, Smith College 0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-20)
 
- Records: MIT (24-3); Smith (21-11)
 
- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)
 
- The Lead: In the first postseason meeting between both teams since 2013, nationally-ranked No. 22 and No. 2 seed MIT emerged with a 25-16, 25-21, 25-20 victory over No. 7 seed Smith College in the quarterfinals of the NEWMAC Women's Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday night. With the win, the Engineers secured a spot in the semifinals for the 31^st time in program history.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Set 1: MIT gradually built a 10-6 lead after an ace by sophomore Emily Cheng (Sunnyvale, Calif.). Smith recorded four of the next five points as a serving error brought it within 11-10. This was as close as it would get as the Engineers put together a 14-6 set-ending run.
 
- Set 2: The Pioneers inched out a 7-4 lead following a kill by Olivia Smith. MIT battled back, eventually going up 11-9 on a kill by sophomore Allison Brattley (Fleetwood, Pa.). Smith responded with a 4-1 burst as a ball-handling error gave it a slight edge. Two ties and a lead change followed until the Engineers put together their own 4-1 spurt, which resulted in a 20-15 lead. Smith countered with another 4-1 run, however, an exchange of points ensued until kills by Brattley and junior Lilly Edwards (Kansas City, Mo.) gave MIT a 25-21 win.
 
- Set 3: Trailing 5-4, the Engineers rattled off five unanswered points, capped by a block from sophomore Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) and Cheng. The Pioneers stayed within striking distance, closing the gap to one point on four occasions, the last at 17-16 on a kill by Kinsey Cronin. Back-to-back kills from first-year Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) sparked a 4-1 run, however, kills by Ari Cross and Abby Sweeney cut the deficit to 21-19. MIT registered kills from Rozario, senior Annie Bryan (Kirkwood, Mo.), and Brattley to reach match point. A kill by Sweeney kept Smith alive, but a hitting error by the visitors thwarted the comeback attempt.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Gragg finished with a team-high 12 kills while hitting .321 as Rozario produced eight kills and a .538 hitting effort in two sets. Bryan generated seven kills, a .467 hitting percentage, and six blocks while Brattley totaled seven kills and five blocks.
 
- First-year Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) paced MIT with 13 digs, followed by eight from junior Sofie Kupiec (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and seven by sophomore Ashley Margetts (Brownsburg, Ind.).
 
- Cheng rounded out the Engineers with 37 assists.
 
- Sweeney totaled 12 kills and a .308 hitting performance while Olivia Smith bolstered the Pioneers' attack with eight kills.
 
- Nathalie Pak and Lilly Mearsheimer distributed 16 and 11 assists, respectively.
 
- Gabby Beckman collected a match-high 14 digs as Cross chipped in seven digs. Cronin led Smith with three blocks.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will face No. 3 U.S. Coast Guard Academy in the semifinals of the NEWMAC Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 3:00 p.m. at top-seeded Babson College.
 
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