Center Valley, PA – After two hotly contested opening games, the Clarkson University Volleyball team was able to create a little more breathing room in its final two games against DeSales University, taking out the Bulldogs in four sets , 28-26, 25-27, 25-21, 25-21, on Friday night.

The Golden Knights improved to 11-7 overall on the season, and the team will face two more top teams from Pennsylvania on Saturday, taking on Gettysburg College and Muhlenberg College.

The first set was a back and forth effort from the beginning, but the Bulldogs pushed to a three-point lead midway through the first set (15-12). Clarkson rebounded with five straight points to regain the lead at 16-15, but the two teams then exchanged four-point runs, with DeSales taking a 21-18 lead, but watching it slip away on four straight points by the Knights. DeSales was the first to have a set point, but a block by Rachael Aird tied the set up at 24-24. The teams again went back and forth on the next few exchanges, but an attack error by DeSales was followed by a kill from Rachael Aird to close out the first game.

Set number two looked like it would be a blowout early on as DeSales scored the first six points and then moved out to a 9-1 lead to force a Clarkson timeout. The Bulldogs extended their advantage to as many as nine (13-4) before Clarkson started chipping away with several mini-runs. Although the Knights scored enough to get back within striking distance, the Bulldogs were still up five late (21-16) and were in a great position for set point with a three-point advantage (24-21). Maddie Bredehoeft recorded a kill to get the Knights within two, and then Rachael Aird followed with a solo block and a block assist along with Meghan Edmund to tie the score at 24-24. DeSales had another set point at 25-24, but failed to convert. However, the Bulldogs finally did finish off Clarkson's ferocious comeback with a block and an ace.

In the third set it was Clarkson that would enjoy a solid lead (22-15) late, only to see the Bulldogs score six of the next seven points. After seeing their lead shrunk to two points, the Knights halted the momentum with a timeout. The strategy worked as DeSales recorded a service error and saw their comeback effort end with a kill from Rachael Aird.

The fourth set was close midway through the game (13-12), but Clarkson scored five straight to extend the lead to 18-12. Four of the next five points also went Clarkson's way, and at that point it was just a matter of time before the Knights closed out the set and match, which they did, 25-21.

Rachael Aird was a dominant force throughout the match with 20 kills against just two errors in 44 attempts (.409 hitting percentage) and added in two solo blocks and four blocks assists. Rachel Reusch also contributed 12 kills and Maddie Bredehoeft delivered eight kills. Defensively, Kate Isaksen was excellent with 31 digs, while Kendall Cheval added in 17 digs and six kills. Jillian Saenz ran the offense to the tune of 35 assists.

For DeSales, Gabby Savite recorded 14 kills and 23 digs and Noel Kelly added 12 kills. Natalie Gray matched Savite's 23 digs and Jess Smith had 43 assists.