#2 Wellesley Sweeps #7 Clark in NEWMAC Volleyball Quarterfinals

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The second-seeded Wellesley College volleyball team used hot hitting to sweep seventh-seeded Clark University, 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-18), in the quarterfinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Tuesday evening.

The win advances Wellesley (27-5) to Saturday's semifinal round at Springfield. The Blue will take on sixth-seeded Coast Guard who topped #3 Babson, 3-1. The loss ends the Cougar's 2013 campaign with a 14-15 record.

Wellesley hit .402 as a team, combining for 47 kills on 87 attempts with just 12 errors. Clark, meanwhile, hit just .056, not breaking .100 in any of the three sets played. The Blue also out-dug (34-26) and out-blocked (10-2) the Cougars on the night.

Wellesley was nearly unstoppable in the first set, hitting .560 with 16 kills and just two errors. The Blue opened an early 11-3 lead, highlighted by a Megan Mills kill for the 11th point. Clark battled back to make it 12-9, on a Shannon Glass-Smythe serving run, punctuated by a Courtney Pharr kill. After trading sideouts, Wellesley's Traci Hamanaka took to the serving line, as Wellesley went on an 8-0 run that featured a pair of Caitlin Laughlin kills to make it 20-9. Wellesley then closed out the match with Kellyn O'Brady on the line, as Sydney Carfagno recorded two of the final three points in the 25-11 victory. 

In set two, Wellesley took advantage of several early Clark attack errors to open up a 9-5 lead. The Blue maintained a four-point advantage until it was 12-8, before pulling away with O'Brady on the line. A Courtney Lang kill pushed the Blue lead to 17-8, before the teams traded a pair of sideouts to make it 19-11 Blue. Maddie Koh then took over serving duties and two kills from Brooke Fieldman extended the Blue lead to 23-11. A Wellesley attack error put Clark on the line, but Wellesley quickly took over, closing out the set on a Carfagno ace, setting the final to 25-12.

Set three was close through the early going, with the Blue holding on to a slim 9-8 lead. Wellesley then went on a 6-1 run, that included two kills each from Lang and Carfagno, making it 15-9. Clark cut the Blue advantage to 16-12, using a Glass-Smythe kill, but Wellesley forged ahead, taking a 21-12 lead on a Kira Jordan point. Clark made some noise down the stretch, as Glass-Smythe and Savonnah Rowe each recorded kills to cut the Blue lead to 24-18, but an O'Brady kill sealed the set at 25-18, giving Wellesley the 3-0 sweep. 

Five Wellesley players hit better than .400 for the night, with Laughlin leading the way at .667 on nine kills. Kira Jordan hammered 4 kills on seven attempts for a .571 night, while Fieldman and Lang hit .444 on nine kills and six kills, respectively. 

Carfagno had a strong outing as well, notching her 13th double-double of the season, with 14 digs and 10 kills (.412) to go along with a block and an ace. Hamanaka tallied 11 digs, while Hilary Ayers and Koh combined for 38 assists in the win.

Glass-Smythe led the Cougars with 10 kills and one ace. Pharr added four kills and Savannah Sanford and Rowe chipped in three a piece. Mia Matteo recorded 10 digs and an ace, while Rachel Spera distributed 16 assists in the loss.