Rochester, NY – A double-double from Victoria Kirkemo (Englewood, CO) in the key match of the day helped lead the Clarkson University Volleyball team to a perfect conference weekend with victories over Bard College and Vassar College Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights, winners of eight straight matches, improved to 13-3 overall and 4-0 in the Liberty League. Clarkson will take on ninth-ranked Cortland State on Tuesday before returning to conference matches next weekend.

In the opening match, Clarkson overwhelmed Bard College in straight sets 25-12, 25-7, 25-13 as the Golden Knights ripped a hitting percentage of .409 for the match with 30 kills against only three errors in 66 attempts. Freshman Victoria Kirkemo had nine kills and only one error in 15 attempts, while adding six digs and three solo blocks, while Aishvina Arasu (Brea, CA) contributed seven kills with only a single error in 15 swings. Clarkson ran a 6-2 offense, spreading out the assists almost evenly between junior setter Lani Durio (Austin, TX) and freshman Kirstie Shurie (LaCanada, CA). Durio had 10 assists and also produced six digs and four aces, while Shurie had 11 assists and two aces. Rounding out the more impressive statistics from the match were the three aces by Adrienne Walker (Centennial, CO) and three solo blocks by Brooke Butkovsky (Monroe, CT).

The second match was more difficult for the Knights, but the team was able to dispatch Vassar in four sets, 25-14, 25-20, 17-25, 25-17. Kirkemo had 15 kills and 17 digs for her double-double and added in a pair of aces. Arasu contributed 12 more kills and Durio had 33 assists in the second match. Erika Chin (Katy, TX) led the squad with 22 digs and also had two aces, while Shurie played well defensively, too, with 19 digs. Shurie also had two aces for Clarkson against Vassar.

“This team continues to surprise me in terms of how quickly we are learning to increase our competitive bottom line,” head coach Johan Dulfer said. “Vassar is a good team, but we never panicked, even when they had a few runs. The thing that makes this team so special is their ability to trust. They have a great deal of trust in themselves, in us as coaches, and in their ability to come together as a team in stressful moments. That’s really unique for a group this young.”