Saratoga Springs, NY – After moving its winning streak to 10 straight, the Clarkson University Volleyball team saw its stretch end in a four-set loss to Skidmore College on Friday, as the Golden Knights suffered their first conference setback of the season.

The Golden Knights moved to 15-4 overall on the season and 5-1 in conference matches. Clarkson will take on Union and Vassar on Saturday before heading into a midseason break.

In the first match of the day, Clarkson served Bard off the court with 20 aces in the match, making only four service errors in the contest, which finished 25-11, 25-7, 25-18. Junior Erika Chin (Katy, TX) was the leader in that category with seven aces, while freshman Kirstie Shurie (LaCanada, CA) added in six of her own. Also adding to the ace parade were Adrienne Walker (Centennial, CO) and Victoria Kirkemo (Englewood, CO), who had three each, and Lani Durio (Austin, TX), who accounted for one ace.

Clarkson did not hit at the same rate as it did in its first match of the year against Bard, but still struck for 28 kills, a solid amount considering how many aces contributed to the Knights’ points. Kirkemo, Adrienne Walker, and Aishvina Arasu (Brea, CA) each had six kills, while Bailey Walker (Centennial, CO) had four kills in just 10 swings. Shurie and Durio shared in setting duties and had 13 and 12 assists, respectively. Kirkemo led the team with 10 digs and Arasu and Adrienne Walker each had three total blocks.

In the second match, Clarkson came out and cruised in the first set to win by 10, but the next three sets did not go the Knights’ way as they fell in four sets to Skidmore 15-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-20.

Arasu had 13 kills to lead the way and Kirkemo added 12 kills and 11 digs. Both Walker sisters had eight kills, with Adrienne also supplying six solo blocks. Durio had 23 assists and Chin led the team with 19 digs. More importantly, the Knights’ serving advantage abandoned them to the tune of only seven aces against 12 errors.

“We spent the entire night in system yet couldn’t put balls away,” head coach Johan Dulfer remarked. “Skidmore dug in and forced us to be smart but in trying to do that we did way too much and overplayed. Defensively, we didn’t adjust and offensively we got frustrated and overplayed. That’s just not a good combination. Tonight was just not our night but we look forward to our home match for some revenge.