Box Score Worcester, Mass. – Powered by a trio of monster performances, third-seeded Clark University held on for a thrilling 3-2 win over sixth-seeded Wellesley College in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) volleyball quarterfinal action at a raucous Kneller Athletic Center on Tuesday evening.
With the win, the Cougars (21-7) advance to the league semifinals for just the third time in school history and will face second-seeded Springfield College (29-2) on Saturday, November 7 at MIT's Rockwell Cage. First serve is slated for 3:30 p.m.
For the Blue meanwhile, they see their season come to an end at 14-15 but their future is bright with a host of underclassmen playing major roles in their rotation.
Things looked as if the Cougars would have little trouble in the match as they rolled to a two sets to none lead by hitting .345 and .300 respectively in those sets. In fact, Clark was so dominant in the opening two sets that they only trailed once – a 6-5 deficit in the first.
After they went on to win the opener, 25-15, they recorded the first four points of the second set on their way to another easy victory, 25-16.
It all changed in the third set as the Blue started to get their offense rolling as Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) found some offensive rhythm and their ability to control play at the net led Wellesley to a 25-18 win in the third.
All the momentum that the Scarlet and White had built up in the first two sets was complete gone by the time the fourth set arrived and the Blue continued to use their size up front in the form of Reece and Elise Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) to alter and block several Clark attacks. Despite their hitting woes in the fourth (.149), the Cougars were still within shouting distance at 18-14 following a kill from Shannon Glass-Smythe (Albuquerque, N.M.).
Wellesley pulled away, however, as kills from a hot-hitting Reece and Samantha Ostenso (Hopkins, Minn.) coupled with the team's .349 hitting and just one error in the frame, forced a fifth and deciding set with a 25-18 decision.
With help from a pretty boisterous crowd, the Cougars jumped ahead in the fifth as Marina Ramos (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) registered three consecutive kills, putting the Scarlet and White ahead, 4-1.
Wellesley stayed close, and with kills from Ashley Peng and Reece, were within one at 7-6. Clark answered with a quick scoring run that included a service ace and kill from Glass-Smythe.
Ahead 13-8, Clark put the match away with back-to-back kills from Ramos and Hannah Fox (Dracut, Mass.), sending them to the semifinal round.
As it has been for a large portion of the season, the Cougar serve was very effective as they collected 15 – the eighth time this season they reached double figures in that category.
Reece led the way for the Blue with 16 kills and eight digs, while Griffin had a stellar match, totaling 11 kills, six digs and five block assists.
Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) handed out 33 assists and added eight digs while Maddie Koh (Seattle, Wash.) finished with a team best 12 digs.
The Cougars got another standout performance from Ramos, who racked up 25 kills and 19 digs, while Glass-Smythe – playing in her final home contest – finished with a season-best 16 kills, nine digs and five service aces.
Meanwhile, Rachel Webb (Celina, Texas) dished out a career-best 51 assists – the second time this season she has cracked the 50-assist barrier.
Courtney Pharr (Seattle, Wash.) was extremely effective at the net, ending with eight kills on .429 hitting and three service aces, while Ana Mercado (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) totaled seven kills and four service aces of her own.
Defensively, Mia Cattaneo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) posted 12 digs and Rayme Quiban (Seattle, Wash.) chipped in with ten.
