NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Bears' winning streak was snapped by Springfield College in a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 15-25, 13-25) loss on Tuesday evening. The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match bumped Springfield up to 16-4 (6-3 NEWMAC), while Coast Guard dropped to 16-6 (4-4 NEWMAC).

The Bears were led by Shannon Shaw and Noelle Tursky in kills, with 11 and 10, respectively. Allie Wildsmith added five kills and Sarah Somer four. Tursky had 13 assists to go with her kills, while Maeve Duffin added 12. The Bears had 10 aces over the Pride, with Kaela France having five of them, and Tursky and Carmen Zipft two each. France also had a team-high 24 digs, followed by Tursky with 15. Each Bear playing in the match recorded at least one dig for a well-rounded defensive front. Elizabeth Atkinson led the Bears with four blocks.

Set one started in the Bears' favor, with Tursky getting a kill from Duffin to go up 1-0. Springfield answered back before Coast Guard got two more on a block from Wildsmith and Carlee Lingle. A few more back-and-forth points made it to the board before the Bears went on a three-point run with Wildsmith serving, giving them the lead, 8-4. At 10-6, Zipf aced the Pride, forcing a Springfield timeout. However, Zipf came right back at it with another ace and another service on top of that, putting the Bears up 13-6. Springfield had their own run to come within two at 15-13. Back-and-forth play ensued before Atkinson and Shaw had a big block followed by a Tursky kill, forcing another Springfield timeout at 19-16. The Pride would come back and tie at 21-21, but Coast Guard would push two, setting up one of France's aces. A well-timed Bears' timeout at 24-23 got Coast Guard the final point of the set after a Pride serving error, giving the Bears the win, 25-23.

Set two proved to be another battle, with the score tied at 1-1, 2-2, 7-7, and 13-13 before Springfield went on a 4-0 run, forcing a Coast Guard timeout. A well-timed timeout as well, the Bears brought the score back to 17-16. However, the Bears would only get within two points again, and the Pride won the set, 25-22.

The Pride used that momentum to go on big runs in sets three and four, not allowing the Bears more than 15 points in each, giving Springfield the match win.
The Bears are back in action on Thursday as they head across the street to take on the Camels of Connecticut College at 6 PM in non-conference action.