Cougars Race Past Framingham State, 3-0

Framingham, Mass. – In a matchup that featured a pair of emerging teams in the region, Clark University took control of the match early and never looked back, rolling to a 3-0 win over host Framingham State in non-league volleyball action on Thursday evening.

The Cougars improve to 16-4 with their third consecutive victory, while the Rams slip to 17-6 and have now dropped back-to-back matches for the second time this season.

In the first set, the Scarlet and White jumped out to an 11-6 advantage but Framingham State stormed back and actually took a 14-12 lead -  a scoring run that was aided by a trio of kills by Julia Wan (South Deerfield, Mass.), Annie DeLoid (Plymouth, Mass.) and Danielle Girard (Tivoli, N.Y.). Clark settled down and went ahead 20-17 before collecting the 25-19 win capped by consecutive kills by Courtney Pharr (Seattle, Wash.).

With the score knotted at 9-9 in the second set, the Cougars ran off nine of the next 11 points to surge ahead 18-11 following a Marina Ramos (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) kill and a Mia Cattaneo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) service ace. The Rams didn't go away, however, and closed the gap to 23-17 but another kill from Ramos was followed up by one from Ana Mercado (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) to seal the set, 25-18.

The hosts came out energized in the third and the score was close at 9-8 after a Girard kill. Clark went on another one of their patented scoring bursts and when the dust cleared they were in front 15-9.

Framingham State made one final push, getting as close as 17-16 as Alycia Rackliffe (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and Wan hammered down kills. The Cougars put the match away, however, as Pharr tallied a service ace around a pair of Ramos kills, giving the Scarlet and White the 25-18 triumph.

Clark's offense was paced by Ramos, who totaled a match-high 17 kills to go along with nine digs, while Pharr had a strong evening as well, recording eight kills and a pair of service aces.
Rachel Webb (Celina, Texas) dished out a match-high 31 assists, Shannon Glass-Smythe (Albuquerque, N.M.) added nine kills, while Cattaneo led a strong back row for the Cougars, collecting 15 digs.

The Rams were led by Rackliffe, who finished with nine kills, while both Girard (seven kills, 15 digs) and Wan (seven kills, ten digs) just missed out on double-doubles.

FSU is back in action this weekend with a pair of matches against NEWMAC foes. They will face both Mount Holyoke and Smith on Saturday beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Clark, meanwhile, is off until Tuesday when they entertain Wheaton in a key conference showdown. First serve is slated for 7:00 p.m.