Brockport, NY – An impressive effort from the back row, experience, and an efficient offense allowed the Clarkson University Volleyball team to exact some revenge for the third straight match, as the Golden Knights defeated Susquehanna University in three straight sets 34-32, 27-25, 25-23 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon.

The Golden Knights improved to 22-14 overall with the win, while the River Hawks saw their season end with a mark of 31-8. Clarkson's win marked the third straight time that they defeated a team that they had lost to in the last three weeks. Just two weeks ago, the Knights were swept by Susquehanna at the Emory National Invitational. The win on Friday afternoon marked the seventh straight year that Clarkson has won at least one match in the NCAA Tournament.

Clarkson will next face fifth-ranked Emory University, which swept New Rochelle in three sets 25-18, 25-14, 25-11, at 2:30 pm on Saturday.

In the opening set, Susquehanna was getting all the offense it needed from outside hitter Morgan Lowe, as the River Hawks withstood an early run by Clarkson to gain a modest five-point lead to force a timeout by the Knights (15-10). The break did little to slow the River Hawks down as they pushed their lead to seven (19-12). However, a Rachel Reusch kill at 21-17 somewhat unnerved the River Hawks as they made two hitting errors to make it 21-19. Following a Susquehanna timeout, a Reusch kill, hitting error, and a Reusch block gave Clarkson the lead at 22-21. Katrina Lane delivered a kill to make it 24-23 a few points later, but that became just the first of numerous match points for both teams. Back and forth it went for numerous points with momentum swinging in both directions, albeit briefly. Down 32-31, Rachael Aird delivered a kill to tie the set up at 32 for Clarkson, beginning a stretch of three points that gave Clarkson the win, which emphatically ended on another Aird kill to the middle of the court. Clarkson's offense was clearly humming along in that first set as the team had 25 kills and a .273 hitting percentage.

The Golden Knights fell behind by four points in the early going of the second set, but quickly came back to tie things up at 5-5 after another Aird kill. Susquehanna regained the lead immediately after that and would hold on to a narrow margin all the way until the teams hit the mid-teens. At that point, Rachel Reusch scored her first two kills of the set and Jillian Saenz recorded an ace to give the Knights their first lead of the set. However, Susquehanna continued to take advantage of Clarkson miscues in the second set (10 overall) and pushed to a 22-18 edge. It appeared as if the River Hawks would tie the match up, but Clarkson again rallied back with a solid run on offense from Sophia Holms, who scored three kills, including two that tied the score at 23-23 and 24-24. Though Susquehanna was the first to 25, Clarkson again scored the final three points of the set, tying things up on an Aird kill, taking the lead on a hitting error, and earning the win when Kendall Cheval found an empty spot at right back for a kill.

"(The one spot) was an area that when we watched video I thought was a weakness, so anything that was a free ball or a tip, we wanted to send it back there, especially since it is hitting away from the libero," head coach Carol LaMarche said.

Things looked great for Clarkson in the third set as the Knights had the River Hawks on their heels with a strong run from the service line. Saenz produced an aces, Cheval recorded back-to-back aces, and Reusch scored an ace later to give Clarkson a 16-7 lead. Two more kills from Holms gave Clarkson a 20-8 lead and the Knights were running away with the set and the match. However, the River Hawks played as if they had nothing to lose and won a stretch of eight straight points to make it 21-18. A Kendall Cheval kill ended the streak for Susquehanna, but did not halt the momentum as the River Hawks rallied all the way back to tie the score at 22-22. Another kill by Reusch gave Clarkson the lead again at 23-22 and a hitting error provided the Knights with a 24-22 edge. After a service error pulled Susquehanna back within one, Reusch ended the match with her 12th kill to give the Knights the win.

Rachael Aird led the Knights with 14 kills and a .353 hitting percentage, while Reusch delivered 12 kills and three blocks. Sophia Holms contributed a double-double with 11 kills and 18 digs and Jillian Saenz did the same with 45 assists and 11 digs. Kate Isaksen led the way with 26 digs, in the process breaking Clarkson's single-season record for total digs (816), and Katrina Lane also contributed nine kills. Saenz, Cheval and Holms each added two aces and Clarkson overall produced 82 digs, the most its enjoyed in a three-set match this year.

For Susquehanna, Morgan Lowe was difficult to stop on the pins with 23 kills and a .303 hitting percentage, while Erin Byrne added in 13 kills and a .393 hitting rate. Marykate Sherkness also was in double figures for kills with 11, while Maggie O'Hearn had 43 assists and 16 digs.