Rochester, NY – Despite trailing two sets to none in the marquee matchup Friday night, the Clarkson University Volleyball team rallied to win three straight to gain a 3-2 victory over RIT in Liberty League action.

The Golden Knights, now 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the Liberty League, defeated Bard in three straight sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-10) to start the day and then brushed off a big deficit to take a five-set win over the Tigers (28-30, 9-25, 25-18, 25-23, 15-7). Clarkson will face St. Lawrence and Vassar on Saturday afternoon.

Clarkson had little trouble handling Bard in its first match of the day, nearly doubling up the Raptors in score with 75 points to Bard's 38. The Raptors hit -.093 with 22 errors and just 14 kills in 86 swings, while Clarkson hit at a .241 clip with 30 kills. Junior Rachael Aird struck for 11 kills with just two errors in 17 swings for a .529 percentage, adding in four blocks. Sophomore Jillian Saenz ran the offense with 23 assists, while Kate Isaksen and Kendall Cheval contributed 11 and 10 digs each.

In the second match of the day, Clarkson raced out to an early lead in the first set and was up by seven late (18-11) only to see the Tigers come back to tie with seven straight points. The Golden Knights moved back up by four (24-20), but again RIT came away with five key points to send the set into extras and the Tigers finished with a 30-28 win. That momentum carried into set number two for RIT as Clarkson was held to single digits in a 25-point set for the first time since September 2012. Just like that match four years ago, Clarkson quickly recovered to take the next set and was on the way to an unlikely come-from-behind win. In set number four, RIT led midway (14-11), but Clarkson went on a key 7-0 run to take the lead, beginning a topsy-turvy finish. Clarkson was up by four (20-16), but saw its lead evaporate and turn into a 7-1 run for the Tigers. However, a kill by Rachael Aird finished off set number four in favor of the Knights. The fifth set was all Clarkson as the Knights scored eight of the nine first points and cruised to the win.

Aird finished with 12 kills to lead the Knights, while Cheval chipped in 10 kills and four aces. Isaksen led the way for Clarkson with five aces, as well as a team-best 23 digs. Sierra Rhoades also had 22 digs, Jillian Saenz produced 32 assists, and Rachel Reusch had nine kills and seven blocks. Maddie Bredehoeft also had five blocks.