09/11/2007
Volleyball Drops NEWMAC Opener to Babson, 3-1

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- The Clark University women’s volleyball team dropped its New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener to Babson College, 3-1, in Babson Park, Mass. on Tuesday night. The Beavers (2-5, 1-0 NEWMAC), who snapped a five-match losing streak with the win, took the match, 30-24, 19-30, 30-23, 30-25.

The two teams played evenly early in the first game, but Babson pulled ahead for good with a 7-1 run midway through. The Beavers eventually took the opener, 30-24, behind three kills apiece from sophomore Caitlin O’Neill (Lynnfield, Mass.), first-year Britt Libby (South Windsor, Conn.), and senior co-captain Mandi Blackmer (Honeoye, N.Y.).

Babson built a 13-8 lead early in game two, but Clark (2-4, 0-1 NEWMAC) came storming back with a 12-0 run on the service of sophomore Emily Visone (West Hampstead, N.Y.). That gave the Cougars the lead for good as they evened the match with a 30-19 victory.

O’Neill served five straight points to turn a one-point edge into a 16-10 lead midway through game three, and Babson would eventually prevail, 30-23, to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Beavers then surged ahead, 18-9, in game four behind the stellar play of senior Carlen Palau (Silver Spring, Md.), who tallied four of her 10 kills in the final frame. Clark refused to go quietly, as junior Karleen Porcena (Roxbury, Mass.) served up three aces and recorded a kill during a 9-0 run that evened the score at 18-18, but Babson later answered with a 5-0 run on Blackmer’s serve to go back in front, 27-21. The Beavers would eventually take the game, 30-25, to secure the overall 3-1 victory.

Porcena led the way with seven kills and four service aces for Clark. Visone registered three kills and 11 digs and sophomore Kylie Kutney (Commerce, Mich.) finished with 25 assists and 10 digs.

Libby led Babson with 12 kills in the win, while Palau finished with 10 kills and a team-high 18 digs. First-year Tina Kaindl (Niederteuten, Austria) added nine kills for the Beavers, and O’Neill chipped in with eight kills and three blocks. Blackmer had another strong match with 32 assists and 14 digs, and junior Ryan DePaoli (Kennesaw, Ga.) and first-year Kathryn Alea (Southborough, Mass.) contributed 12 digs apiece.

Clark will host MIT in a NEWMAC match on Saturday at 1 p.m.

(Courtesy of Babson Sports Information)