La Verne, CA - On the brink of taking down the fourth-ranked team in the country, the Clarkson University Volleyball team came up cold against Elmhurt College, but the Golden Knights recovered from their five-set loss to down Whittier College in four sets in the afternoon to salvage a split at the Leo Invitational on Saturday.

The Golden Knights, ranked 24th in the country, moved to 8-4 on the season and are now off from game action for the next 11 days when they open the Liberty League conference schedule against St. Lawrence University.

After winning the first two sets against the fourth-ranked Blue Jays, the Golden Knights couldn't finish off Elmhurst, falling 24-26, 24-26, 25-18, 25-16, 15-11. Junior Adrienne Walker (Centennial, CO) had a solid all-around match, striking for nine kills with just one error in 23 swings to go along with a pair of solo blocks and two service aces. Sophomore Victoria Kirkemo (Centennial, CO) led the way offensively with 14 kills, while senior Erika Chin (Katy, TX) was on the top of the defensive leaderboards for the Knights with 22 digs. Senior Lani Durio (Austin, TX) had 18 assists and 14 digs, and sophomore Kirstie Shurie (LaCanada, CA) led the squad with 23 assists.

Unlike Friday when Clarkson had to turn around after a five-set match and play once again, the Knights got a few hours reprieve to prepare for Whittier College, and the Knights dispatched their second opponent in four sets 25-13, 20-25, 25-14, 25-17. Other than the second-set misstep, Clarkson was in control throughout and was fairly consistent on offense. Durio led the way with 21 assists and was aided by Shurie, who tossed in 19 assists, three aces, and nine digs. Once again, Kirkemo led the way with 15 kills, this time adding in nine digs, while Chin had 18 digs. Walker hit .350 for the match on nine kills with two errors in 20 swings. Sophomore Aishvina Arasu (Brea, CA), recently returned from injury, showed little rust with nine kills, three aces and 13 digs. Classmate Lauren Hutchinson (Spring, TX) had seven kills on 26 swings, and did not make any errors.