Canton, NY - Despite numerous positives on the stat sheet, the Clarkson University Volleyball team endured its first Liberty League loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, dropping a four-set match to Union College before recovering for a dominating effort against Bard College at Burkman Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights moved to 20-2 on the season and will now take a much deserved break before returning home for their next tournament on October 14-15.

In the first match of the day, the Dutchwomen somehow overcame a .438 hitting percentage from the Golden Knights (17-3-32) to take the first set 25-20. Union dropped the second set to the Knights 25-23 before taking the next two 25-19, 25-17. Sara Artus (St. Regis Falls, NY) had 14 kills and just a pair of errors and Adrienne Walker (Centennial, CO) added 13 kills. Bailey Walker (Centennial, CO) and Megan Mahon (Irvine, CA) contributed 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while Lani Durio (Austin, TX) ran the offense to the tune of 45 assists. Erika Chin (Katy, TX) was the top defender with 24 digs. Unfortunately for the Knights, their normal aggressive style proved to be their undoing as the team had 14 service errors while also adding in nine reception errors and 10 blocking errors.

"When you look at the stat sheet of the Union match, we look like a team that easily could have won," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "The reality, however, is that Union's side of the stat sheet was even more impressive. They were almost error-free when it mattered, and out-passed us. Sometimes volleyball is cruel, but even though I think we could have been more mentally prepared, all the credit here goes to Union. They played an absolutely flawless match. Despite the fact that it just wasn't out match, we kept battling, which is a great sign, as was the way we bounced back and made a statement against Bard. I'm proud of how we finished out the day."

The statement in the second match was loud and clear as Clarkson beat Bard in one of its most lopsided efforts ever, 25-3, 25-5, 25-7. Clarkson hit for a .481 percentage in the match with 31 kills and just six errors, while the Raptors had only three kills total. In fact, of Bard's 15 points in the match, six came on attack errors from Clarkson, and four more came on service errors. Artus had 12 kills and Adrienne Walker had six kills in just nine swings. Clarkson also produced 18 aces overall, with Artus and Becca Brabec (Lemont, IL) leading the charge with five each.