SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Lauren Holt had nine kills and eight blocks while Kelsey McGayhey added nine kills and five blocks leading Springfield to a 3-0 win over Coast Guard in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener.

Springfield won by set scores of 25-18, 25-9, 25-13 running its win streak to five improving to 9-1 on the season 1-0 in conference play while the Bears drop to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the NEWMAC.

The Bears beat the Pride twice last season with a 3-2 win at home during the regular season before the sixth-seeded Bears upset the third-seeded Pride 3-0 in the NEWMAC tournament quarterfinals.

"We played a really good team tonight, they kept pressure on us all night and we struggled to respond," said Coast Guard head coach Mike Bynon. "The positive side is that we will have a long way to go in terms of reaching our goals later in the year and that is a team we look forward to playing later in the season."

In the opening set, Springfield jumped out to an 8-1 lead, but the Bears scored six of the next eight to close to within 10-7.  Coast Guard closed to 14-13 and trailed 20-17 before the Pride scored five of the final six points for the 25-18 win.

Springfield again started quick in the second set leading 5-1 and leading 11-6, Springfield ran off ten straight points for a commanding 21-6 lead en route to a 25-9 win.

The Pride again jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set before Coast Guard cut the deficit to 6-5. Springfield responded with four straight points for a 10-5 lead. The Bears clawed back to 13-11 before Springfield scored 12 of the final 14 points to close out the match.

Sophomore Summer Adams led the Bears with seven kills while freshman Stephanie Bullard added six kills. Senior Emily Gilland led Coast Guard with eight digs while senior Maggie Hine had a team-high 15 assists.

Coast Guard is back in action on Saturday at Clark when they take on the host Cougars at 11 a.m. and Western New England at 1 p.m.