NORTON, Mass. —  The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team was defeated by visiting Clark University, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 26-24, 15-7), this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons finish their season at 11-15 and 2-7 in league play. The Cougars improve to 12-15 overall and 4-6 on the season and earn the number seven seed in the NEWMAC Championship tournament. Clark will travel to Babson Park, Mass. to play second-seeded Babson College in the tournament's first round on Tuesday, November 1. 

The teams combined for 403 attack attempts and 190 digs. Wheaton's 70 kills in the match rank as the seventh-most in a match in school history, while its 209 attack attempts stand as the sixth-highest total in program history.

The Lyons hit .230 for the match and hit at least .170 in each of the first four sets, before being held to a .042 mark in the fifth frame. The Cougars owned a .155 hitting percentage for the match.

Senior setter Hannah George (Duxbury, Mass.) directed the offense with 56 assists to mark the seventh-highest total in a match in Wheaton history and added 15 digs and two aces. She finishes her career with 1,102 assists to rank eighth all time for the Lyons. Junior outside hitter Annah Shaheen (Portsmouth, N.H.) recorded a career-high 18 kills and 16 digs to post her first collegiate double-double and added a block assist, while first year outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) put down a career-best 17 kills behind a .239 hitting mark and picked up a personal-high 22 digs to go with an ace and a block assist. Senior right side hitter Bailey Madrzyk (Barrington, Ill.) spiked for 14 kills and hit .297 for the match in addition to five assisted blocks to give her 16.5 points. She closes her career with a .269 hitting percentage to place her third all time in program history. Senior libero Sophie Wilhelm (Saunderstown, R.I.) closed out her career with 33 digs to give her 1,012 for her tenure in Norton.

Senior outside hitter Claudia Rivera (Guaynabo, P.R.) put down 14 kills, including four in the final set, to lead Clark and added eight digs, three block assists and a pair of aces to her day for Clark, while junior outside hitter Victoria Pastor (Bayamon, P.R.) matched her with 14 kills on a .216 hitting mark. She also fired two aces, picked up three digs and got up for two blocks. Junior middle blocker Sheyenne Williams (Bloomfield, N.J.) finished with nine kills on a .300 hitting clip to go with three block assists. Graduate student setter Margarita Perez Maza (Guaynabo, P.R.) posted a double-double with 25 assists and 10 digs to go with two aces and graduate student libero Marimo Oka (Fukuoka, Japan) picked up a match-high 34 digs and added two aces.

Wheaton opened with a first set win, before Clark erased a six-point deficit in the second frame to win 25-23. The Lyons came back to win the third set, but the Cougars evenened the match with a tight fourth set at 26-24.

Clark opened the fifth set by winning six of the first seven points, including four kills from Rivera, to take a 6-1 lead. First year middle hitter Julia Wingler (Fuquay Varina, N.C.) later put down a kill for Wheaton to cut the deficit to 8-4, but a 5-1 burst gave the Cougars a 13-5 lead. Williams put away the final kill of the set to give Clark the victory.

The teams were tied at 6-6, before the Lyons put together a 12-7 stretch, including three kills each from Madrzyk and Shaheen, to take an 18-13 lead. Rivera spiked for a kill to pull the Cougars to within 23-21 later in the set, but Shaheen swung for the final kill to give Wheaton the set.

Madrzyk and Lyon each put away a pair of kills during a 6-1 run to give the Lyons a 16-10 lead in the second set. Wheaton later maintained a 19-15 margin, but Clark went on an 8-2 run behind three kills from Pastor, to take a 23-21 lead. The Cougars held onto their advantage and tied the match with a 25-23 set win. 

The Lyons countered with a set three victory to take a 2-1 match lead. Wheaton held a 10-4 lead, including the first six points of the frame. Wheaton maintained a 16-9 cushion, but a 5-1 spurt capped by a kill from Rivera put the visitors to within 17-14. The Lyons scored four of the next five points to take a 21-15 lead and cruised to the set win at 25-20. 

Neither team led by more than three points in the fourth set, which featured 10 ties. Clark owned an 18-15 lead, but a 6-3 run by Wheaton pulled the home team even at 21-21. It was the first of four ties before Pastor put down a kill to give the Cougars a 25-24 edge. The Lyons committed an attack error to give Clark the winning point to take the set and tie the match.