SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Elle Rimando had 14 kills and Madeline Barton added 12 as the Mount Holyoke College volleyball team defeated Clark University 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-21) in NEWMAC action on Tuesday night in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium, ending Clark's 20-match winning streak in the teams' all-time series.
Mount Holyoke (10-7, 2-3 NEWMAC) registered its first win against Clark (1-13, 0-5 NEWMAC) since the 2003 season, and raised its all-time record against the Cougars to 18-35.
The Lyons notched their 10th victory, giving them a double-digit total of wins for the fourth straight season.
Mount Holyoke attacked at a .163 rate for the match and held Clark to a -.026 percentage. The Lyons committed 15 service errors but collected 13 aces as well, led by junior Kyra Staples' (Chatham, Ill.) five aces.
Harper Chinn had a team-high four kills for Clark, which dropped its eighth straight contest.
The Lyons took a 10-4 lead in the first set and led by at least three points for the duration of the frame. The Cougars closed within 23-20 after trailing 23-16, but an attack error and an ace by Lyons senior Amelia Ringor (Lafayette, Ind.) clinched the set. Barton (Brookfield, Wis.) had six kills in the set, Rimando had five, and senior Sadie Duffrin (Minneapolis, Minn.) tallied 10 of her match-high 25 assists in the set.
Both teams' attacks stagnated in the second set, with Mount Holyoke collecting eight kills and eight attack errors (.000) and Clark getting only three kills with eight errors on 21 attempts (-.238). There were six ties and four lead changes in the set. Clark closed within a point at 21-20, but Mount Holyoke came alive to finish the set with a 4-0 run, featuring kills by Rimando and sophomore Olivia Murray (Miami, Fla.) and finished off with back-to-back aces by Rimando.
Both sides produced their best work in the third set, with the Lyons attacking at .269 and the Cougars raising their rate to .074. Mount Holyoke led from 2-1 onward, though Clark came back from 22-17 down to close within two points at 22-20. Murray's sixth kill of the match gave Mount Holyoke a 23-20 lead, and a pair of attack errors by Clark helped Mount Holyoke clinch the win. Rimando had five kills on .500 attacking in the set, and Barton had five kills on .273 attacking, with Duffrin again collecting 10 assists.
Mount Holyoke hosts Westfield State on Friday at 6pm in a non-conference match; Clark next plays at Smith College next Tuesday at 7pm.
