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CU Volleyball wins ninth straight with victory over Potsdam

Posted 10/13/16

Potsdam, NY – Junior Rachael Aird accounted for nearly one third of all of the offensive points for the Clarkson University Volleyball team as she struck for 23 kills in a four-set victory against …

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CU Volleyball wins ninth straight with victory over Potsdam

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Potsdam, NY – Junior Rachael Aird accounted for nearly one third of all of the offensive points for the Clarkson University Volleyball team as she struck for 23 kills in a four-set victory against crosstown rival SUNY Potsdam (23-25, 25-14, 25-119, 25-18) on Wednesday night.

The Golden Knights improved to 17-4 overall with their ninth straight win, while the Bears dropped to 13-9. Clarkson will face its stiffest competition this weekend when they travel to the Mid-West Invitational where top-ranked Calvin College and fifth-ranked Hope College await, along with Heidelberg and Ohio Wesleyan.

In the first set, the Knights had trouble with Potsdam's serving game, recording reception errors three times in a four-point run by the Bears. Down by five early, Clarkson came back to take the lead and pushed its advantage to two points on several occasions. However, the Bears scored the final four points of the first set thanks to errors on the Clarkson side to come away with a win.

Clarkson shook out the cobwebs after the first set and got the offense going, producing a .323 hitting percentage in set number two. Katrina Lane produced five kills in the second set, including the final exclamation point of a double-digit victory.

The third and fourth sets were not quite as lopsided, but Clarkson always found a little extra to make sure that the match would not head to a fifth and deciding set. In the fourth, Potsdam led 17-15 by capitalizing on errors and a solid offensive run by Rachel Topf. The Knights responded with nine of the final 10 points of the set, clearing the court on a kill by Kendall Cheval to end the match.

Rachael Aird was virtually unstoppable for the Knights with 23 kills and just three errors in 42 swings (.476 hitting percentage), marking her second-highest kill total of the season (26 versus Oneonta State in five sets) and second-highest hitting percentage (.529 versus Bard in three sets). She also tossed in four total blocks with two solos and two block assists. Maddie Bredehoeft recorded nine kills while Kendall Cheval and Katrina Lane each chipped in eight kills. Savannah Peters also produced seven kills and four total blocks. Jillian Saenz added a career-high 55 assists and Kate Isaksen tossed in 33 digs, the second most of her young collegiate career. Cheval (18) and Lane (16) also reached double figures in digs.

For Potsdam, Rachel Topf had a double-double with 15 kills and 22 digs, while Gabrielle Scott matched kill and dig totals with 11. Sloane Campbell led the team with 24 digs and Brianna Rodda had 36 assists and 11 digs. Scott also scored three aces in the match.