NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College volleyball team (10-15; 2-6 NEWMAC) fell in five sets to Clark University (16-7; 5-3 NEWMAC) 25-16, 16-25, 25-21, 10-25, 6-15 on Tuesday evening in Emerson Gymnasium. 

Sophomore Cathryn MacGregor finished with a double-double for the Lyons, knocking down 15 kills, while picking up 15 digs. Classmate Claire Cansler contributed 10 kills and Allison Cox ended the night with eight. First-year Becca Houghton ended the contest with a match-high 41 assists, while junior Stephanie Martin led all players with 25 digs. 

Marina Ramos paced the Cougars with a match-high 18 kills to go with 17 digs. Ana Mercado also finished in double-figures in kills with 15, while Jacqueline Jimenez-Maldonado knocked down night. Rachel Webb led Clark with 39 assists, while Mia Cattaneo had 23. 

Wheaton took the lead to start the first set on kills by Cameron Mercer and never looked back. The Lyons increased their lead to 20-12 with kills by Cox, Cansler and an ace by Nikita Selivan. MacGregor ended the contest for Wheaton with an ace. 

Clark turned the tables on Wheaton in the second set, capitalizing on a Lyon error to take the lead out of the gate. Like the Lyons in the first set, the Cougars would never trail en route to the 25-16 win. 

The third set began with back-to-back kills by Mercer. Wheaton increased its lead to 11-4 with help from several Cougar errors. Clark pulled within three points down the stretch but a MacGregor kill ended the set in Wheaton's favor 25-21. 

Down a set, the Cougars came out on fire in the fourth set taking a quick 7-2 lead. Clark continued to attack the net forcing several Wheaton errors, while getting kills from Mercado and Ramos. Mercado ended the set with a kill to end the Cougars 18-8 run. 

The Cougars trailed just once in the fifth and final set before collecting the 15-6 win. 

Wheaton returns to the court on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 11 a.m. for a match against Wesleyan (Conn.). The Lyons will then take on Connecticut College at 1 p.m.  

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