THE BASICS:
 
- Score: No. 22 MIT 3, Springfield College 0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-15)
 
- Records: MIT (26-3); Springfield (22-7)
 
- Location: Babson Park, Mass. (Staake Gymnasium)
 
- The Lead: The nationally-ranked No. 22 and No. 2 seed MIT women's volleyball team captured its seventh conference title after defeating No. 5 seed Springfield College, 25-18, 25-21, 25-15, in the NEWMAC Championship on Sunday at Babson College. With the win, the Engineers will be making their 20^th appearance in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Senior middle hitter Annie Bryan (Kirkwood, Mo.) was named the Tournament Most Outstanding player after compiling 23 kills, a .310 hitting percentage, 10 blocks, and four aces for MIT throughout the tournament.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Set 1: Springfield inched out to 7-4 lead courtesy of ace by Abigail Wright, but MIT responded with an 8-1 run that was capped by back-to-back kills from Bryan. The Pride chipped away at the deficit as a pair of hitting errors by the Engineers evened the set at 15. MIT replied with five straight points which fueled a 10-3 set-ending run.
 
- Set 2: The Engineers built a 6-2 lead and eventually went up 21-11 after a kill by Bryan. MIT maintained a comfortable cushion as a kill by junior Lilly Edwards (Kansas City, Mo.) gave it set point at 24-17. Springfield capitalized on two kills by Natalie Billet, a kill by Kylie Wixted, and hitting error by the Engineers stay alive. However, the comeback attempt was thwarted courtesy of a kill from Bryan.
 
- Set 3: MIT established a 6-2 lead, but a kill by Billet sparked a 6-1 burst as another Billet strike gave the Pride an 8-7 edge. The Engineers replied with a kill from Bryan, kicking off an exchange of points until MIT mounted an 11-0 run which resulted in a 20-10 advantage. Albrecht stopped the run with a kill and then she earned an ace for Springfield. The Pride wouldn't get any closer as the Engineers went on to clinch the match at 25-15 on a Springfield hitting error.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Bryan posted 11 kills and a .360 hitting percentage as sophomore Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) recorded 11 kills and a .471 hitting effort. Edwards finished with 10 kills and a .391 hitting percentage.
 
- Sophomore Emily Cheng (Sunnyvale, Calif.) registered 40 assists and seven digs while first-year Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) paced MIT with a match-high 19 digs.
 
- Billet led all players with 12 kills as Wixted and Camryn Bancroft both recorded eight kills and two blocks for Springfield.
 
- Sara Labadorf tallied 22 assists, six digs, and two blocks while Briana Tovar collected 13 digs.
 
- This was the second meeting between MIT and Springfield in the NEWMAC Championship. The Pride swept the Engineers for the title in 2003.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will learn about the location and its opponent in the NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Monday, Nov. 8 at 12:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.