Comeback Bid Falls Short as Clark Tops Blue Volleyball, 3-2, in NEWMAC Quarterfinals

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Trailing two sets to none, sixth-seeded Wellesley College volleyball rallied to force a fifth set before third-seeded Clark University won the match, 3-2 (25-15, 25-16, 18-25, 17-25, 15-8), in the quarterfinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament on Tuesday night at the Kneller Athletic Center.

Clark improves to 21-7 overall and advances to take on Springfield College, the tournament's number two overall seed, in the conference semifinals on Saturday at 3:30 PM at MIT's Rockwell Cage.

Sophomore Marina Ramos (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) recorded a double-double for Clark, leading all players with 25 kills and 19 digs. Clark senior Shannon Glass-Smythe (Albuquerque, N.M.) also finished in double-figures for the Cougars, adding 16 kills, while first year Rachel Webb dished out 51 assists. On defense, junior Mia Cattaneo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and first year Rayme Quiban (Seattle, Wash.) recorded 12 and 10 digs, respectively, while Glass-Smythe also chipped in with nine.

Wellesley first year middle hitters Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and Elise Griffin (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) combined for 27 of the team's 43 kills. Reece put down a team-high 16, while Griffin racked up 11 kills on just 20 attempts to hit .450 in the match.  Junior Maddie Koh (Seattle, Wash.) paced the Blue's defensive efforts with 12 digs, while first year Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) recorded 33 assists. 

Hosting a NEWMAC postseason match for the first time since 2000, Clark opened with a 25-15 victory in the first set, racking up 16 kills to go along with six services aces. The Cougars erased an early 6-5 deficit to open up a 16-11 lead midway through the set. Wellesley put together back-to-back points to cut the deficit to 16-13, but the Blue would get no closer than the three-point margin for the remainder of the frame. Clark went on to score eight of the next ten points in the match to take a 24-15 advantage, Ramos then closed out the opener with a kill to give the hosts the 25-15 win.

The Cougars opened the second set on a 4-0 run, but the Blue slow chipped away at the advantage, eventually rallying to within one, at 10-9 and again at 15-14. The teams then exchanged points, with Wellesley continuing to trail by one, at 16-15 and 17-16. However, the Cougars used an 8-0 run, including a pair of kills from Ramos and two aces from Glass-Smythe, to put Wellesley away with a 25-16 second set victory. 

Wellesley got back in the match with a win in the third set. The Blue opened the game on a 3-0 run and never trailed en route to a 25-18 decision. The Cougars quelled Wellesley's opening surge, closing the gap to 5-4, before Wellesley once again pushed out ahead to take a 9-5 lead. Clark would counter again, this time with a 5-1 run, to tie the set at 10-all. The teams exchanged points, to make the score 11-11, before Wellesley ran off four in a row, including two kills from Reece, to take a 15-11 advantage. Clark made one last push, cutting the deficit to 16-15 following a Wellesley error, before the Blue scored eight of the next nine points to jump to a 24-16 lead. Following back-to-back kills from Glass-Smythe, a kill from Griffin gave the set to Wellesley, 25-18. 

The Blue continued to push in the fourth set, breaking an 8-8 tie to go on to win the frame and force the deciding fifth set. Three-straight Clark errors gave the Blue an 11-8 lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the set. Clark got no closer than three points for the rest of the game, as Wellesley would go on to tie the match at 2-2 when Reece and first year Samantha Ostenso (Hokins, Minn.) delivered back-to-back kills to end the fourth set, 25-17.

The Wellesley comeback bid ultimately came up short in the fifth set, as the hosts grabbed an early 6-2 lead on their way to closing out the match with a 15-8 victory. Wellesley closed the deficit to one point, at 6-5 and 6-7, but Clark took advantage of untimely errors by the Blue to make the score 11-6 before later ending the match on a kill by junior Hannah Fox (Dracut, Mass.).

Wellesley volleyball ends the season with a 14-15 overall record following tonight's match.