Worcester, Mass. – Two-time defending champion Clark University split their two matches at the revamped Worcester City Volleyball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Worcester State's Lancer Gymnasium.

The event, which used to have four teams, was cut to three and became a tri-match which WPI won with a pair of sweeps that gave them their first title since 2009.

Clark 3, Worcester State 1

Clark freshman Shannon Glass-Smythe (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Mel Conde (Union City, Calif.) both recorded double-doubles for Clark as the Cougars posted a 3-1 win over Worcester State in the tournament's opening match.  

Clark took the 25-17 victory in the first set before Worcester State rallied for the 26-24 triumph in the second. But the Cougars would notch consecutive winning decisions to seal the match (25-21 and 25-9).

Glass-Smythe finished with 15 kills and 18 digs as Conde contributed 13 kills and 11 digs. Others with double-digit dig totals included sophomore Kaitlyn Stuck (Bourne, Mass.) who had a tournament-best 26 digs and Rachel Spera (North Hollywood, Calif.) who had ten digs and 37 assists.

The Cougars had eight service aces and 12 block assists in the win.

WPI 3, Clark 0

WPI senior Belinda Nwagbara (Santa Rosa, Calif.) tallied nine kills as they helped lead WPI to a 3-0 victory over Clark in the second contest.

The Crimson and Gray (5-2) handed the Cougars (4-2) three consecutive setbacks by scores of 25-18, 25-19 and 26-24.

In the third set, WPI looked to close out the match with 22-18 advantage, but behind some solid serving by Conde, Clark went on a 6-0 spurt to threaten with set-point (24-22). But WPI would rattle off three consecutive points on a block assist by Beovich and senior Jocelyn Close (Ellington, Conn.), a solo block by Close and the match clincher by freshman Jenny Wallace (Holden, Mass).

Rangel and Findaza combined to hand out 31 assists as D'Angelo registered a game-best 24 digs. Dorenfeld also had 17 digs, four kills and three service aces in the win for the Engineers.

For Clark, Glass-Smythe and Conde finished with ten and nine kills, respectively, as junior Spera doled out 23 assists.

Glass-Smythe and Spera both combined for 24 digs in the setback for the Cougars.

Clark will open up NEWMAC play on Tuesday with a home contest against MIT.