Worcester, Mass. – In one of the most hotly-contested matches in quite a while, Clark University erased a two sets to one deficit to deliver a thrilling 3-2 win over Wheaton College in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) volleyball action on Tuesday evening.

The win for the host Cougars not only moves their overall record to 17-4, but they are now 6-2 in conference contests and have the inside track to a possible home playoff contest in early November.

For the Lyons, meanwhile, they now stand at 11-13 and 3-5 in league games but remain in the hunt for a postseason berth with two conference contests left on their 2015 slate.

Clark actually opened up the match with a relatively easy win in the first set at 25-11.

Things changed drastically in the second as Wheaton came out aggressive, racing to a 7-3 lead that turned into a 20-14 edge. The Cougars got as close as two at 22-20, but both Deirdre Wilson (Aptos, Calif.) and Kendall Jacobs (San Diego, Calif.) put down kills to secure the win at 25-22.

The third set was nip and tuck early on and after a Marina Ramos (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) kill, the Scarlet and White were ahead 11-10. From that point, Wheaton went on a 10-4 spurt to surge ahead of Clark, 21-15. A Shannon Glass-Smythe (Albuquerque, N.M.) kill had the Cougars hoping at 24-22 but Elise Waelder (San Diego, Calif.) closed the door shut with a set-sealing kill.

With their backs against the wall in the fourth set and the score tied at 16-16, Clark moved ahead 19-16 capped by a Glass-Smythe service ace. Wheaton answered back, however, and knotted the set at 23-23. Ana Mercado (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) and Glass-Smythe put away impressive kills to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.

In the fifth, serving proved to be a huge factor as the Cougars pushed ahead 4-1 following a pair of service aces from Courtney Pharr (Seattle, Wash.) and later Tori Whitney (Sunderland, Mass.) added one of her own. Meanwhile the Lyons were having trouble as they handed the Scarlet and White two points on a pair of service errors.

Undeterred, Wheaton found itself tied at 9-9 following an Arieanne Creighton (Brookline, N.H.) kill but Clark recorded six of the next seven points including getting the match-sealing point on a block from Hannah Fox (Dracut, Mass.) and Ramos.

Even with the Cougars getting the win, the star of the night without question was Wheaton's Wilson who recorded her third triple double of the season with 10 kills, 38 assists and 12 digs while hitting .381.

Waelder actually led the Lyons with 13 kills while Creighton added 11 of her own. Stephanie Martin (Centerville, Mass.) turned in 25 digs for the visitors who got 15 more from Olivia Wilson (Alameda, Calif.).

The Cougars got a match-high 15 kills from both Ramos and Mercado and ten more from Glass-Smythe. Fox (eight) and Pharr (seven) combined for 15 kills, while Mia Cattaneo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) ended with 25 digs and Savannah Sanford (San Anselmo, Calif.) chipped in with 13.

Rachel Webb (Celina, Texas) dished out 38 assists in her three-plus sets of action before giving way to Whitney who finished with 12 helpers of her own.

Both teams will step out of conference over the weekend with Wheaton visiting DeSales for a tri-match on Saturday and Clark heading to UMass-Boston for four matches over two days beginning with the host Beacons on Friday at 3:00 p.m.