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Clarkson volleyball cruises to victory at Golden Knights Invitational

Posted 10/20/13

Potsdam, NY - Pushed only occasionally all weekend, the Clarkson University Volleyball team claimed its own Golden Knights Invitational title with a perfect 4-0 weekend, sweeping Brockport (25-9, …

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Clarkson volleyball cruises to victory at Golden Knights Invitational

Posted

Potsdam, NY - Pushed only occasionally all weekend, the Clarkson University Volleyball team claimed its own Golden Knights Invitational title with a perfect 4-0 weekend, sweeping Brockport (25-9, 26-24, 25-15) and Medaille (25-9, 25-14, 25-14) Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights, winners of six straight matches, improved to 23-6 overall on the season.

Although the first and third sets were clearly in favor of the of the Knights, it was during the second set that Clarkson and Brockport both gave the large throng of fans a thrill.

Brockport forced a timeout with a six-point lead (10-4) and then pushed the advantage to eight points, but Clarkson rallied to tie the score 15-15. However, that change of momentum didn't stick, as Brockport was able to rally back and take the lead. Following a tip kill by the Eagles (24-23), Lani Durio (Austin, TX) surprised Brockport with a dump kill on a set to tie the score at 24-24. A pair of errors by Brockport gave the second set to the Knights 26-24.

Sophomore Victoria Kirkemo (Englewood, CO) scored 16 kills and added in 10 digs and three aces in the match, while Erika Chin (Katy, TX) also produced three aces with a team-best 14 digs. Durio had 13 assists and Kirstie Shurie (LaCanada, CA) also chipped in 13 assists as the pair split setting duties in the match. Clarkson hit .384 overall (37-4-86).

For Brockport, Hanna Sawicki had nine kills with just a pair of errors in 19 swings and Jessica Greiner led the team with 25 assists. Jamie Snyder also tossed in five service aces in the match.

Clarkson ended its own tournament with a dominating three-set sweep of Medaille (25-9, 25-14, 25-14), in which the Golden Knights hit a ridiculous .483 overall with 48 kills and just six errors in 87 attempts.

The Knights had 17 kills and no errors in 29 swings in the first set (.586 hitting percentage), and the numbers only dropped slight in the second set (.393) and third set (.467). Sophomore Victoria Kirkemo had 13 kills and three errors in 21 swings for a .476 clip, adding in 11 digs and three aces. Aishvina Arasu (Brea, CA) had 12 kills and only two errors in 26 swings (.385 hitting percentage), while Clarkson's middles Adrienne Walker (Centennial, CO) and Xiao Liang (Tianjin, China) combined to hit nearly .500 combined in 27 total swings. Walker also added in four aces and a pair of blocks, while Liang had four total blocks. Lani Durio, not surprisingly, averaged better than 13 assists per set with a total of 40 and Erika Chin led the defense with 13 digs.

"It feels great to win our home tournament," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "Everyone contributed this weekend and got to show us the areas of their game that they have made improvements in. I think it feels like we are getting better individually, and also as a team. That's good to know because we have a stretch coming up with some pretty big matches, starting this Tuesday against St. Lawrence."