Springfield, OH – Facing some stiff competition in the Midwest, the Clarkson University Volleyball team came up short in its first two tries of knocking off an out-of-region foe, falling in four sets to Heidelberg and in three sets to third-ranked Wittenberg.

The Golden Knights fell to 5-4 on the season following the losses to Heidelberg (25-23, 19-25, 25-11, 25-20) and Wittenberg (25-20, 25-16, 25-20), and will face Ohio Northern and ninth-rated Millikin early on Saturday.

Against the Student Princes, Clarkson's offense started off reasonably strong in the first two sets, sporting a hitting percentage just above .200, but that rate dropped precipitously in the next two sets as the Knights delivered a negative hitting rate.

In the opener, Heidelberg jumped out to a five-point edge (15-10) after an ace, but Clarkson rolled back in with kills from four different hitters to tie the game at 15-15. A few moments later, the Knights were up by two (21-19), but Heidelberg found some rhythm and capitalized on Clarkson miscues (three kills, three errors) to close out the set 25-23.

In set number two, the Knights and Princes were evenly matched through the first 18 points, but Clarkson rattled off seven straight with three kills, three errors by Heidelberg, and an ace to take a 16-9 lead. Though the Princes would eventually cut the margin to four (23-19), the Knights had enough to finish out the set and even things up at one set apiece.

Set number three was a forgettable one for Clarkson, as Heidelberg scored the first six points, 12 of the first 15, and 18 of the first 23 to blow out the Knights. The fourth set was a return to form of the earlier two with both squads simply trading jabs and small advantages. Clarkson led by a point (18-17), but three straight errors gave Heidelberg the momentum it needed as the Princes scored eight of the final 10 points.

Sophomore Kate Isaksen and junior Jillian Saenz were busy, with Isaksen recording 31 digs, five assists and a pair of aces and Saenz adding in 29 assists and 26 digs. Meghan Edmund also chipped in 17 digs, while Rachael Aird (nine kills) and Savannah Peters (eight kills) led the offense.

The second match of the day pitted the Knights against a familiar foe from the 2015 NCAA Quarterfinals. One of the top programs in the country, Wittenberg had too much offense for the Knights as Clarkson played well but couldn't keep up with the Tigers output.

Clarkson came out strong in the first set and enjoyed an 11-10 lead after back-to-back miscues from the Tigers, but Wittenberg scored eight of the next nine points thanks to four kills and three aces. Clarkson pulled back to within four on a couple of occasions late in the set following kills from Meghan Edmund and Maddie Bredehoeft, but a kill from Aubrey Cox ended the hope of a prolonged run by Clarkson.

In the second set, again Clarkson stuck with the Tigers for the first half of the set, but when it was necessary, Wittenberg found another gear on offense while the Knights couldn't finish off the points to keep pace. The Tigers made a three-point lead expand to seven midway through the set, and unlike the first game, Wittenberg kept its foot on the gas and cruised to a nine-point win.

Following a service error by Wittenberg midway through set number three, Clarkson again was down by just three points (12-9). However, six kills and an ace by the Tigers put the Knights down by nine just a few minutes later and Wittenberg's advantage at that point was too much to overcome despite a solid run from the Green and Gold.

Wittenberg delivered an average of 17.7 kills per set in the match against Clarkson's 10.7 kills per set, though the Tigers actually committed more errors on swings (18-13). Rachael Aird led Clarkson with 10 kills, while Maddie Bredehoeft (7-0-13), Rachel Reusch (7-1-23) and Meghan Edmund (6-1-20) also provided some offense. Edmund also added in 16 digs, trailing only libero Kate Isaksen's 23 in that category. Jillian Saenz distributed enough for 23 assists.