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Knights volleyball moves to 8-0 in league play with sweeps of SLU and Vassar

Posted 10/4/15

Rochester, NY - With three-set sweeps of both St. Lawrence University and Vassar College, the Clarkson University Volleyball team improved to 8-0 in the Liberty League on Saturday afternoon. Ranked …

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Knights volleyball moves to 8-0 in league play with sweeps of SLU and Vassar

Posted

Rochester, NY - With three-set sweeps of both St. Lawrence University and Vassar College, the Clarkson University Volleyball team improved to 8-0 in the Liberty League on Saturday afternoon.

Ranked 18th in the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll, the Golden Knights showed little rust after a near two-week layoff and improved to 16-3 overall and 8-0 in conference matches. The Golden Knights need to win only one more conference match to clinch a playoff spot, though that could also happen before Clarkson's next league match due to other combinations of losses by other Liberty League teams.

In the first match of the day, the Golden Knights were able to even their all-time series against St. Lawrence at 62-62 with a three-set sweep (25-22, 25-20, 25-16). St. Lawrence led for most of the first set and had a small advantage late (22-21), but Clarkson found another gear when it needed to as Rachael Aird tied the game at 22-22 with a kill and three points later the set ended with block assists by Aird and Kirstie Shurie. The final two sets were close at the midway point, but once again the Knights put the pressure on late, enjoying an 8-1 run near the end of the second set and closing out the third set with six straight points thanks to kills from three different players and back-to-back aces by Sierra Rhoades. Aird dominated against the Saints with 10 kills and just one error in 13 swings while Victoria Kirkemo added seven kills and Aishvina Arasu, Lauren Hutchinson and Danielle Farabee each had six kills. Kirstie Shurie produced 34 assists and Tara Stilwell led the team with eight digs. Rhoades tied for the lead in digs with eight of her own and also delivered four aces in the match.

Against Vassar, the Golden Knights were able to cruise to a three-set sweep (25-18, 25-9, 25-14) with none of the sets really ever being in doubt. Clarkson's offense swung to a tune of a .362 hitting percentage as Shurie recorded a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs. Arasu led the team with 12 kills, but Katrina Lane had the best performance of the match with nine kills and no errors on 15 swings (.600 hitting percentage). Aird had eight more kills and Kirkemo and Farabee each had six kills with only one error in 11 swings. Kirkemo also added three aces while Farabee had four total blocks, including three solo efforts. Stilwell led the team with 14 digs.

"I thought this weekend started out a little rough for us after a nice long weekend off," Clarkson head coach Johan Dulfer remarked. "But as the weekend progressed we worked our way into matches and to a higher level. The match against Vassar was probably as good of an example of playing with a lot of purpose as any match I've seen us play. I hope we learned how to summon that kind of passion and drive."