Potsdam, NY – Starting a stretch of five straight home matches, the Clarkson University Volleyball team got off on the right foot by claiming a three-set victory over SUNY Canton (25-15, 25-17, 25-22) on Wednesday evening at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights improved to 9-4 on the season with their sixth win in the last seven matches, while SUNY Canton fell to 5-7. Clarkson will host both the University of Rochester and Williams College this weekend.

In the first set the two teams traded points on virtually every service opportunity as the teams were tied 10 times through the score 11-11. At that point the Golden Knights were able to keep Canton out of system thanks to a strong serving effort from Kate Isaksen, turning an 11-11 knot into a 20-11 advantage for Clarkson.

The second set was also close at the start with the Knights edging out early only to see Canton score four straight points to take a 13-12 lead at the midway point. However, Clarkson scored five of its next seven points on kills, with three coming from Rachael Aird, and the Knights ended the set on a 13-4 run.

What proved to be the final set had its moments of not looking as such. Clarkson gained the upper hand early, leading by as many as seven points (12-5). Canton, though, would not go away quietly, taking advantage of Clarkson miscues and enjoying a strong run of swings from Kelsey Cornish. Canton rallied all the way back to tie the set at 22-22, but an authoritative kill from Aird put the Knights back up by one. An error by the Roos and an ace by Katrina Lane closed out the set in favor of the Knights.

Aird finished with a match-high 14 kills swinging both from the outside and the middle, hitting .458 (14-3-24), while Rachel Reusch struck for 12 kills with just two errors in 20 swings for a .500 rate to go along with five blocks (two solo, three assists). Katrina Lane also hit .333 with seven kills on 21 attempts and no miscues. Jillian Saenz assisted on 38 kills and also added a pair of aces. Kate Isaksen led the team with 18 digs and also chipped in four assists. Both Kendall Cheval and Lane also had 11 digs.

For Canton, Shea Norton led the way with 11 kills and Kelsey Cornish produced nine kills. Peyton Robinson recorded 27 assists. Jenna Roat led the team with 18 digs, while Cornish also contributed 13 digs.