NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Sophomore Shannon Shaw came out swinging as the Bears took down New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opponent Clark University 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-21) Tuesday evening. With the win, the Bears improve to 10-4 (2-2 NEWMAC) and the Cougars drop to 6-4 (1-1 NEWMAC).

Shaw had 20 kills and only one error on 38 attacks, giving her a blistering .500 kill percentage. Noelle Tursky and Elizabeth Atkinson added nine kills each, while Sarah Somer had five. Tursky also had 23 assists, and Maeve Duffin added 14. The Bears also served well on the night, recording seven aces and two each by Carmen Zipf, Kaela France, and Tursky. Zipf led the Bears defensively with 23 digs, followed by Tursky with 14 and Laila Baameur with 12. France and Duffin added eight digs apiece. Mack Boose stepped up to lead the Bears with four blocks.

Shaw got started early in set one, recording five kills as the first five points for Coast Guard. Zipf added an ace to put the Bears up 6-2. France went on a serving run, helped by kills from Tursky, Atkinson, and Somer. After a hard block from Somer and Atkinson, Clark was forced to call a timeout with Coast Guard up 19-12. The Cougars used some momentum from a few Coast Guard errors to get back within five points at 20-15, but Clark couldn't close the gap further. A Shaw kill on a set from Tursky gave the Bears the set win, 25-18.

Set two started slower with back and forth rallies and a 4-4 tie. Zipf was then up to serve, and Coast Guard scored five straight. At 9-4, Clark called a timeout, and got the next two points. Three consecutive kills by Atkinson, Carlee Lingle, and Tursky put the Bears up by five again at 15-10. The Cougars got a few back on a Coast Guard error and two kills from Victoria Pastor. After a Bears timeout, Clark pushed even further, closing the gap to one at 17-16 on a kill by Camille Flurry from Margarita Perez-Maza. Shaw brought it right back to the Bears with a kill of her own. Clark kept it interesting, staying within up until 23-22. From there, Coast Guard closed it out and win the set, 25-22.

The Bears were swinging hard again in set three, with Shaw and Boose starting the set off with three kills to put the Bears in front 4-1. The Cougars came back with a few kills of their own to bring the score to 6-5, but Coast Guard kept the lead and used kills from Tursky and Atkinson to go up 10-7 and force a Clark timeout. The timeout worked, as Coast Guard served out the back to give Clark the point. However, Baameur got a kill to set up Tursky's serve. She aced the Cougars twice, putting the Bears up 13-8. Clark would fight back to 14-14 before a kill by Shaw, ace by Zipf, and block by Shaw and Atkinson put the Bears back on top, 17-14. Clark still fought and came back to within one at 22-12. However, Coast Guard would score the next three points, ending the set on a monster block by Somer and Boose to win, 25-21.

The Bears are back in action on Thursday, September 29, as they take on non-conference opponent Westfield State at home at 6 PM.