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Knights improve to 2-0 in Liberty League Volleyball with sweep of Skidmore

Posted 9/24/17

Saratoga Springs, NY – Through one Liberty League weekend, only two teams remain unbeaten, and one is the Clarkson University Volleyball team as the Golden Knights swept for the second straight …

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Knights improve to 2-0 in Liberty League Volleyball with sweep of Skidmore

Posted

Saratoga Springs, NY – Through one Liberty League weekend, only two teams remain unbeaten, and one is the Clarkson University Volleyball team as the Golden Knights swept for the second straight day, downing Skidmore College in three sets, 25-17, 25-13, 25-21.

The Golden Knights improved to 7-6 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while Skidmore moved to 7-6 and 1-1. Clarkson will be back at home on Wednesday when it hosts St. Lawrence University at Alumni Gymnasium.

On Friday evening, Clarkson's offense was just okay, but it took little time for the Knights to assert themselves against the Thoroughbreds. In the opener, the Knights owned a modest three-point advantage (12-9) but received kills from Rachel Reusch and Maddie Bredehoeft to begin to open things up. Skidmore was sticking around late in the set, but back-to-back kills from Rachael Aird gave the Knights a seven-point lead (19-12) and Maddie Bredehoeft also tallied consecutive kills late to put Clarkson up 24-15. Block assists from Jillian Saenz and Aird ended a brief two-point rally by Skidmore.

A huge run in highlighted set number two for the Knights, as an 8-6 lead jumped all the way to 19-6 with a ridiculous run from Reusch. The sophomore middle hitter was unstoppable in the second set, especially in that 11-point burst where she had four kills and a block assist. Skidmore would never get back within single digits as Clarkson cruised to a 2-0 lead.

The third set was considerably tighter as Skidmore regained a little of its offense, hitting 13-6-37 in the game. However, Clarkson was even better (17-4-40) and got the kills when it was necessary. Up by just two late (21-19), Savannah Peters delivered a kill and Reusch followed with one of her own. Reusch then added a solo block to give Clarkson its first match point at 24-19. Though it would take two more points to complete the set and the match, Reusch pounded a kill in resounding fashion to finish off the Thoroughbreds.

Overall, Clarkson hit .296 (45-13-108) in the match, thanks to a .480 performance from Reusch that included 15 kills with just three errors on 25 swings. Rachael Aird also hit above .400 with a 12-2-24 line (.417) and Maddie Bredehoeft nearly got there as well, going 8-0-21 (.381). Reusch also chipped in three blocks (one solo, two assists). Savannah Peters had five kills on 15 swings with no errors and a .333 percentage. Jillian Saenz found plenty of options with 40 assists and Kate Isaksen was busy with 25 digs.

For Skidmore, Caite Canfield had 14 kills with four errors in 27 swings, but the rest of the Thoroughbreds combined to hit 16-15-77 (.013). Bailey Hutchins added in eight kills and a pair of aces, while Lauren Wolters produced 27 assists and Allie Dillon led the defense with 12 digs.