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Clarkson volleyball clips Bard in three straight sets

Posted 10/6/18

Anandale-on-Hudson, NY – An overwhelming start by the Clarkson University Volleyball team put the Golden Knights in control early against Bard College, as the Green and Gold claimed a three-set …

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Clarkson volleyball clips Bard in three straight sets

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Anandale-on-Hudson, NY – An overwhelming start by the Clarkson University Volleyball team put the Golden Knights in control early against Bard College, as the Green and Gold claimed a three-set Liberty League win against the Raptors, 25-7, 25-18, 25-16 on Friday night.

The Golden Knights moved to 9-7 overall and evened their conference mark at 2-2, while Bard dropped to 6-11 and 0-3. Clarkson will take on Vassar College at 2:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.

In the first set of the contest, nothing could go wrong for Clarkson and nothing went right for the Raptors. The Golden Knights battered Bard to the tune of a .500 hitting percentage in the first game, striking 11 kills on just 22 swings with no errors, while the Raptors delivered just five kills and eight errors, all unforced, on 30 attempts for a -.300 hitting percentage. Kendall Cheval delivered five kills on just eight swings and Rachel Reusch scored three times on only five attempts.

Set number two worked out much better for Bard, but the Raptors still found themselves on the short end against a dominant Clarkson offense and stingy Knight defense. Though Clarkson was up the entire set, the Raptors pulled within three (10-7) early on and were still hanging around at 17-12 following a kill and an ace. Leading by five late (19-14), Clarkson received two kills from Gillian Kurtic to edge back up to a 22-15 advantage, and though Bard pulled back within five, a Savannah Peters kill, Celestial Barrera-Lopez ace put things out of reach. Ivy Martin scored the final point of the set with a kill, making the final 25-18.

After a relatively quiet first two sets that resulted in six kills on eight swings, Rachel Reusch dominated the third set. The junior recorded five kills in the set, but it was some early serves that changed the game. Trailing by one early on, Clarkson scored four straight points, including two aces from Reusch that put the Knights up 7-4. Although Bard pulled to within two on two occasions, the Knights always had a response, and the answer generally came on an emphatic kill by Reusch. Clarkson scored eight of nine points midway through the set to turn an 11-8 advantage into a double-digit lead (19-9) and cruised from there to win the set and the match.

Reusch finished with 11 kills on just 17 swings in the match, adding a pair of aces and block assists. Kendall Cheval contributed nine kills on 22 swings with no errors and added eight digs. Amanda Collins notched 18 assists in the first two sets and Haley Aud recorded 11 in the last set. Kate Isaksen finished with 16 digs.

For Bard, Storm Bookhard had nine kills and 15 digs and Jewel Smith had 15 assists.