Hoboken, NJ - Two years ago, a six-match winning streak against New York Region teams didn't seem like much other than it sent the Clarkson University Volleyball team to the NCAA Quarterfinals. However, that streak against teams in New York and New Jersey has moved to 64 consecutive matches and has culminated in a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Elite 8 as the Golden Knights defeated Stevens Institute of Technology 3-1 (28-26, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17) on Sunday to capture the Hoboken Regional Finals.

The Golden Knights, rated 15th in the latest AVCA Poll, improved to 37-3 overall, tied for the most wins in the country. Clarkson will face second-ranked Hope (31-2) on Friday in the national quarterfinals. Clarkson joins, Hope, Calvin, Williams, Christopher Newport and Wisconsin-Stevens Point as teams that have qualified for the NCAA Quarterfinals. Two more regions will be decided later this evening.

Junior setter Kirstie Shurie (LaCanada, CA) was named the Hoboken Regional Most Outstanding Player, and senior middle hitter Adrienne Walker (Centennial, CO) was picked as one of the region's All-Tournament team members.

"I thought Stevens played a great match and we feel lucky to have been a part of such a highly-contested regional final," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "I'm proud that the New York Region had two teams in its own final. Today wasn't as crisp as yesterday, but Stevens had a lot to do with that. At the right times the big points went our way, however, and that is a tribute to the experience our upperclassmen bring to the group. We are thrilled to be heading back to the Elite 8 and will be focused on the next challenge at hand. Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we will start getting ready for Hope College."

In the opening set, Clarkson had a small advantage throughout, leading by a score of 21-18 following a kill from Aishvina Arasu (Brea, CA), but Stevens scored four straight to take its first lead of the game, 22-21. The Ducks had an opportunity to win the opener with a 24-23 lead, but Danielle Farabee (Katy, TX) drove home a kill to tie up the match. From that point on Clarkson wouldn't trail, but it took three set points to put the Ducks away, finally ending on a Sierra Rhoades (Poway, CA) ace.

The second set saw the Knights fall behind in the early going 9-5, taking a timeout to halt the momentum. The strategy worked as Clarkson rallied back to tie the score 9-9 and the team never trailed by more than two for the rest of the set. In fact, Clarkson gained the lead at 14-13, and scored four straight on an Arasu kill and three Stevens errors to take a four-point lead. The Ducks would close to within three points late (22-19), but kills from Danielle Farabee and Kirstie Shurie ended any hopes of a Stevens comeback.

In the third, Stevens used a couple of runs in the early going to gain a 13-7 advantage, and pushed the lead to seven points (17-10), but once again Clarkson found another gear when it needed it, closing to within one point (17-16). However, despite pulling even at 22-22, that push might have expended too much energy as the Knights couldn't close out the Ducks in three sets, falling by two.

By set number four, the Knights were ready to put everything together and they earned the first point of the game and never looked back. Clarkson held at least a four-point lead (12-8) from midway through the set to its completion, leading by as many as eight points. Up 24-17, Aishvina Arasu buried her 14th kill of the match to send Clarkson to its third straight NCAA Quarterfinals.

Aishvina Arasu led the Knights with 14 kills, while Danielle Farabee added 10 kills and three blocks. Victoria Kirkemo (Englewood, CO) added nine kills and 17 digs and Adrienne Walker produced nine kills and four aces. Kirstie Shurie once again led a diverse offense with 46 assists and 11 digs. Sierra Rhoades served four aces and had a team-best 19 digs, while Evanne Jimenez (Ventura, CA) chipped in 15 digs. Hannah Jones (Lake Arrowhead, CA) rounded out an impressive weekend from the service line with three more aces.