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Knights volleyball splits five-set matches in Pennsylvania

Posted 10/14/18

Lancaster, PA – Last year the Clarkson University Volleyball team spent its second day in Pennsylvania playing a pair of five-set matches, and though the opponents were not the same on Saturday, …

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Knights volleyball splits five-set matches in Pennsylvania

Posted

Lancaster, PA – Last year the Clarkson University Volleyball team spent its second day in Pennsylvania playing a pair of five-set matches, and though the opponents were not the same on Saturday, the Golden Knights nevertheless played two more five-set matches, winning the first against Washington College but dropping the nightcap versus Franklin & Marshall.

Clarkson defeated Washington College in five sets 22-25, 25-22, 25-14, 22-25, 15-11 and fell to Franklin & Marshall 17-25, 27-25, 23-25, 25-10, 15-12.

The Golden Knights moved to 11-9 overall with the split and will return home for their final two league and home matches next weekend against Skidmore and Union.

In the first match of the day, Clarkson and Washington College were close in the first two sets, swapping close sets before dominating the third set (25-14) thanks to a near flawless performance on offense, hitting .500 with 13 kills. The Knights dropped the fourth set by another narrow margin, but recovered to win the fifth 15-11.

Although the set score in the fifth was close, the Knights led throughout and owned at least a two-point advantage throughout the game. Washington pulled to within one late in the set (11-10), but the Knights received two kills from Rachel Reusch and another kill from Gillian Kurtic to win the match.

Reusch was virtually unstoppable with 21 kills and just two errors in 40 swings (.475 hitting percentage) to go along with four total blocks, including two solo efforts. Gillian Kurtic was nearly as good in the middle, hitting .448 (16-3-29) with four total blocks as well. Kendall Cheval posted a double-double on 12 kills and 14 digs, also chipping in four blocks. The offense was run by Amanda Collins (35 assists) and Haley Aud (24 assists) while Kate Isasken accumulated 33 digs. Meghan Edmund also added 17 digs, six kills and three aces.

After a five-set match on Friday night and a five-set match against Washington on Saturday afternoon, the Knights didn't quite have enough left in the tank to finish off the weekend sweep against the Diplomats. Clarkson hit well in the first set with 13 kills and just a single error on 39 swings in the first set, but the offense slowed down as the match went on.

After a lopsided loss in the fourth set, the momentum appeared to be on the side of Franklin & Marshall, but the Golden Knights would not go quietly in the fifth despite their exhaustion. The Knights trailed for most of the set by small margins, and a kill from Maddie Bredehoeft tied things up at 11-11 in the last game. However, the Diplomats received kills from both Barbara Kapustin and Grace Maggiore and gained points on Clarkson miscues to close out the game and the match.

Reusch once again enjoyed solid numbers with 14 kills and three total blocks, while Maddie Bredehoeft (11 kills) and Gillian Kurtic (9 kills) also added to the offense. Kate Isaksen delivered 39 digs to headline the defensive effort while Meghan Edmund and Kendall Cheval added 17 and 15 digs, respectively, with each also adding two aces. Amanda Collins contributed a double-double on 49 assists and 10 digs.