Box Score Cambridge, Mass. – Third-seeded Clark University jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead and pushed its way past second-seeded Springfield College, 3-1 on Saturday afternoon in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) volleyball action to advance to its first-ever championship finals appearance.
The 25-15, 27-25, 22-25, 25-23 win for the Scarlet and White is their first ever over the Pride (29-3) in 26 all-time meetings and snaps Springfield's 20-match win streak this season that dates back to a 3-0 win over Babson College way back on September 22.
Clark (22-7) controlled the first two sets against the region's No. 2 ranked team, beginning by winning the first set with relative ease, 25-15, as the Pride seemed to be consistently out of system and committed eight errors and hit -.088.
Ahead 1-0, the Cougars picked up the pace in the second set, hitting .255 enroute to a 27-25 win as they hammered down 18 kills – seven of which came from the hot-hitting Shannon Glass-Smythe (Albuquerque, N.M.). The set was still up for grabs late in the frame and knotted at 22-22 when Clark went ahead for good, 24-22 on a pair of kills from Ana Mercado (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico).
Springfield had its best set of the match in the third, hitting .295, but even that set was nip-and-tuck all the way through. The score was tied at 17-17 when the Cougars went ahead 20-17 on a Marina Ramos (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) kill and a pair of Courtney Pharr (Seattle, Wash.) service aces. The Pride then ran off five straight to surge in front, highlighted by a Lauren Holt (Granby, Conn.) and Kayleigh Helgensen (Oceanside, Calif.) block and consecutive kills from Holt. Now in front, 22-20, the Pride held on for a 25-22 win to finally get on the board.
Clark looked to be unfazed by the loss in the third set as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the fourth. Springfield responded and evened the match at 8-8 as Elise Brogan (Andover, Mass.) and Kelsey McGayhey (Shelter Island, N.Y.) denied Glass-Smythe at the net. The set was tied three more times at 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15 when the Pride moved ahead 20-17 as Holt and Helgensen continued to be huge factors at the net for Springfield.
The Cougars battled back to even the score again – this time at 20-20 – as Hannah Fox (Dracut, Mass.), Pharr and Ramos all banged down kills. Remarkably, the score was tied two more times at 21-21 and 22-22 when Clark moved ahead on a Springfield hitting error and a Ramos service ace.
Down 24-22, the Pride got a kill from Hayley Kmetz (Ardsley, N.Y.), but Clark sealed the victory with a kill from Mercado, sending them into the finals for the first time ever.
Kmetz actually led the Springfield offense with 13 kills, while Helgensen chipped in with ten of her own. The Pride gave the Scarlet and White fits at the net, collecting 30 block assists – nine each from Holt and Helgensen.
Ramos, who set the school record for kills in a season in the match, becoming the first player in school history to have 400+ kills in a single year, posted her third 20-20 effort of the season – finishing with a game-high 25 kills to go along with 20 digs, three block assists and a pair of service aces.
Glass-Smythe, meanwhile, had her second straight excellent outing, totaling 15 kills – leaving her tied with Sarah Haigh for the most kills in a career at Clark (1,058). Mercado also had double figure kills for Clark, collecting 12 of her own.
In addition, Rachel Webb (Celina, Texas) has returned to the lineup with a vengeance – and has elevated her game. She doled out a career-high 52 assists – her second straight match with 50 or more helpers and added ten digs.
Defensively, Mia Cattaneo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) anchored a unit that held the nation's leading team in terms of hitting percentage (.302) to their third worst outing of the year - .164. Cattaneo picked up a team-best 21 digs – her tenth match this season with 20 or more. She now has 470 this season – surpassing the previous school mark of 453 set by Mary-Michal Erwin-Loschke in 1999.
The Cougars will face off with fourth-seeded Babson College on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at MIT's Rockwell Cage. The winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament which begins on Friday at sites to be determined at a later date.
