Potsdam, NY – The reserves shined on Friday night for the Clarkson University Volleyball team, as the Golden Knights leaned upon several freshmen and sophomores in their three-set sweep of Bard College, defeating the Raptors 25-12, 25-17, 25-6 at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights improved to 14-7 overall and 5-1 in the Liberty League, while Bard fell to 5-21 overall and 0-6 in conference matches. Clarkson will finish off the Liberty League season on Saturday afternoon when it faces Vassar College for potential conference supremacy.

Clarkson's offense was okay in the absence of Rachael Aird and a minimal effort from Rachel Reusch, but several other players stepped up throughout the match. The Knights effort was bolstered by Bard's inability to stay in system, as most of the Raptors attacks were not particularly well coordinated. The Raptors had 11 more errors than kills (15 kills, 26 errors) in the match.

In the first set, Clarkson jumped out quickly to a comfortable lead, but made things less close than the box score appeared by scoring the final five points and doubling up Bard, 25-12. Set number two saw the Raptors stay within striking distance midway through the game (19-14), but the Knights rattled off three straight points to assure another comfortable victory.

The third set was more striking as it appeared as if Bard would stick close, as the Raptors trailed 7-5 in the early going. Following a Bard service error, however, Aashlyn Sulaica would stick on the Clarkson service line for a lengthy stretch, keeping the Raptors off-balance with a variety of serves that concluded with 13 consecutive points. Bard finally ended the long rally with a kill, but the Knights were right back at it and scored the final four points thanks to a pair of kills from Maddie Bredehoeft and block assists from Lilianna Mason and Delaney Harrison.

Bredehoeft finished with a match-high nine kills with just one error in 18 swings for a .444 hitting percentage, while Gillian Kurtic contributed six kills. Clarkson was solid on defense thanks to 19 digs from Meghan Edmund, 13 digs from Francesca Barajas, and 11 more digs from Aashlyn Sulaica, who donned the libero jersey for the final two sets. Amanda Collins ran the offense to the tune of 23 assists, and Barajas also recorded a pair of aces.

For Bard, Philippine Alba struck for eight kills in 36 swings, but the rest of the team hit a collective 7-19-75 (-.160 hitting percentage). Emily Anastasi kept rallies going for the Raptors from the back row, recording 26 digs and Jewel Smith produced 13 assists.