Tacoma, WA – For the second straight day the Clarkson University Volleyball team opened its day with a win but was cut off in the nightcap as the Golden Knights came away with a four-set win over Puget Sound and a four-set loss to Pacific Lutheran in the Puget Sound Premiere.

The Golden Knights will return home with a record of 2-2 on the season. Next weekend Clarkson and Potsdam State will split hosting duties in the North Country Invitational, with the Knights taking on Keuka, Fredonia State and Potsdam State.

In the opening match against Puget Sound, the Knights were able to come away with a four-set win (25-22, 21-25, 25-11, 25-19)

In the first set, Clarkson pushed to a three-point lead at the midway point (13-10), but saw that advantage dissolve on four errors and four kills by the Loggers as Puget Sound scored eight straight points. The Knights recovered with five straight points of their own, including two on service aces from Rachael Aird. The two teams continued to trade points down the stretch, but Clarkson scored four of the final five points, with kills come from Aird and Maddie Bredehoeft, to close out the set, 25-22.

Set number two started off in Clarkson's favor, but the Loggers scored seven straight to take the lead. Clarkson would claw its way back in and tie the score at 15-15 and then again at 16-16, but Puget Sound once again went on a run to take a five-point lead. The Knights would get back within three on three different occasions, but couldn't get any closer as the Loggers won set two, 25-21.

After two close sets, Clarkson dominated the third, scoring 12 of the first 13 points with the biggest coming on four kills from Rachel Reusch. Back-to-back kills from Kendall Cheval increased the Clarkson advantage to 17-3, and from that point on the Knights just cruised to the win, 25-11. Puget Sound looked like it had recovered in the fourth set with a quick 9-4 lead, but Clarkson controlled the play the rest of the way, more than doubling the Loggers output for the remainder of the set. With a narrow two-point lead, Clarkson scored kills from Maddie Bredehoeft and Kendall Cheval, and the Knights closed out the match thanks to two errors from the Loggers.

Kate Isaksen recorded 30 digs and added in five assists for the Knights, while Jillian Saenz had 35 assists, 12 digs and a pair of aces. Maddie Bredehoeft scored 13 kills and Kendall Cheval had 10 kills and seven digs.Rachael Aird and Rachel Reusch each had seven kills, with Aird producing two aces and Reusch scoring on four blocks, with three coming as solo efforts.

Match number two saw Clarkson come up short in the pivotal third set and dropped a four-set decision to the Lutes (25-21, 18-25, 29-27, 25-17).

In the opening set, Pacific Lutheran scored eight of the first 10 points, but Clarkson cut the deficit to a single point near the middle mark of the game (14-13), but that rally never finished off the comeback and the Knights dropped the set. In set number two, the Lutes again enjoyed a modest early lead, but Clarkson came back to gain a 16-13 lead. Just to make sure that the Lutes couldn't make a comeback, Clarkson scored four straight points thanks to two kills from Rachael Aird and another from Kendall Cheval for a seven-point advantage, which proved enough to gain the win and even the match at one set apiece.

A seven-point lead would have been ideal for Clarkson in the third set, as the Knights were unable to hold on to a four-point edge. The Knights turned a one-point deficit (14-13) into a four-point lead after three kills from Rachel Reusch, and that stretch looked like it would be enough for a win, especially when Maddie Bredehoeft delivered a kill to make the score 24-20. However, the Clarkson offense couldn't come up with the kills when it needed them, despite five match points, as the Lutes came from behind to win 29-27.

The fourth set appeared to be in Clarkson's hands again as the Knights took an early three-point lead with two straight kills from Rachael Aird for an 11-8 advantage. The two teams jockeyed back and forth and the score was knotted up at 16-16, but Clarkson's offense failed, making five errors to allow the Lutes to pull away 25-17.

Kate Isaksen finished with 40 digs and five assists and Aashlyn Sulaica produced 14 digs. Jillian Saenz tossed in 39 assists, leading Rachael Aird to 17 kills, Rachel Reusch to 14 kills and Kendall Cheval to 12 more kills. Reusch also recorded three blocks and Meghan Edmund added 11 digs.