Norton, Mass. – Host Wheaton College made quick work of Clark University on Tuesday night inside Emerson Gymnasium with a 3-0 win in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) volleyball action. Game scores were 25-18, 28-26 and 25-15 as the Lyons pushed their winning streak to four-straight matches.

Wheaton improves to 16-10 overall and 5-3 in league play and have now secured a spot in the upcoming league tournament. The Cougars, meanwhile, now face an uphill battle to earn one of the two remaining spots as they are now 8-13 and 2-6 in conference contests. 

Down 1-0 in the match, Clark jumped out to a 17-12 advantage in the second set using four kills combined by Shannon Glass-Smythe (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Savonnah Rowe (New York, N.Y.), which accentuated the run. Wheaton bounced back with three-straight kills – including two from Deirdre Wilson – to cut its deficit to 17-15 before Anna Strock sent home a pair of service aces to level the score.

The remainder of the set went back and forth until the Lyons capitalized on an attack error to take a slim 27-26 lead, which broke the ninth and final tie of the second stanza. Caitlin Hellebrand followed with her first and only kill of the match to secure a 2-0 lead in the matchup. Wheaton then used that momentum in the third set to wrap up its fifth conference victory of the season.

The Lyons hit .293 (42 kills, 13 errors, 99 attempts) on the evening, dealt out 36 assists and tallied seven service aces, 41 digs and three blocks.

Deirdre Wilson notched her 16th double-double of the season with 14 kills (.367 hitting percentage) and 13 assists to go alongside seven digs and three block assists to pace the Wheaton attack. Kendall Jacobs added nine kills (.389 hitting percentage) and four digs, while sophomore Colleen Koen contributed six kills, one assist and two digs.

Glass-Smythe and Marina Ramos (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) tied for the team-high in kills with seven apiece for Clark, while Ramos also added 12 dig and Glass-Smythe tallied 11 of her own.

Rowe connected on six kills and Tori Whitney (Sunderland, Mass.) handed out 24 assists to highlight the Cougars on the night.

The Cougars will have a week off before traveling crosstown to WPI next Tuesday for a must-win showdown with the Engineers at 7:00 p.m.