Northampton, Mass. - A stirring fightback from the Smith College volleyball team fell short in a 3-2 (19-25, 14-25, 25-23, 25-18, 9-15) New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) loss to Clark University on Tuesday night. The Pioneers fall to 9-16, with a 1-7 record in the NEWMAC, while Clark improves to 10-14, and 4-4 in NEWMAC play.

The Cougars raced out to an early lead in each of the first two sets. A 6-3 advantage for the Cougars was increased to 11-5, forcing Smith into a timeout. Smith pulled to within four at 16-12, but the Cougars pulled away for a 25-19 victory. It was more of the same in set two, as Clark opened up a 14-5 lead and never looked back, winning 25-14.

In the third set, Clark started strong, winning five of the first seven points, then increasing the lead to 13-9. Smith rallied to tie the match at 14, but Clark rattled off three straight points to take a 17-14 lead. The lead was stretched to 20-16, forcing Smith to call timeout. The stoppaged in play galvanized the Pioneers, who netted four straight points to tie the set at 20, and after Clark had reclaimed the lead at 23-21, Smith scored the next four for a 25-23 win.

The good play carried over to the fourth set, as Smith recovered from an early 4-1 hole to pull within 7-6, then scored four straight points for a 10-7 advantage. Smith never surrendered the lead, upping the advantage to 19-13, and winning by a healthy seven point margin, 25-18.

With the match heading to a fifth and deciding set, Clark started hot, opening up a 5-1 lead that quickly stretched to 9-4. Out of a Smith timeout, the Cougars pushed the advantage to 12-5, and though Smith closed to within 13-9, the Cougars scored the final two points for a 15-9 set victory.

Before the game, Smith honored senior Courtney Faria for her contributions to the program over the last four seasons.

Amira Tranchell (Falmouth, Mass.) led Clark with 18 kills and 19 digs, and Rachel Spera (North Hollywood, Calif.) had 46 assists and a pair of service aces. Kortney Kelley (Barnstable, Mass.) had 20 digs.

Smith will hit the road for their final two contests, starting with a trip to Amherst College tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Clark will face Western Connecticut State University on Thursday night at 7 p.m.