The St. Lawrence University volleyball team picked up a key Liberty League victory in impressive fashion on Friday night, as the Saints swept Union College 3-0 in the opening match at Clarkson's Alumni Gymnasium in Potsdam, NY. The Scarlet and Brown then took care of Bard College by the same 3-0 score to earn the conference sweep.

St. Lawrence, which was eliminated by Union in the 2013 Liberty League Tournament semifinals, earned revenge with the 25-14, 25-19, 25-18 win. The Saints followed with a 25-11, 25-12, 25-23 victory over the Raptors to improve to 13-8 (4-2) on the season.

"Today was an outstanding day for our program. We played extremely well against a very talented Union squad, as our first contact was solid from both the passing and serving aspects," said St. Lawrence head coach Shelly Roiger. "Our defense led to efficient offense and I thought our intensity was outstanding."

Lexi Brown led the Saints with 10 kills in the opener, hitting .409 with only one error. Christina Deschaine added eight kills and three blocks, while Katarina Marczeski finished with a match-high 16 assists and a team-high nine digs. Union was led offensively by Rajpreet Dhaliwal's six kills, while Kat Moeller's 13 digs led all defenders.

Union opened up cushions in both of the first two sets, but St. Lawrence responded behind the service of Maddy Ruehl, who closed with six aces in the match. Union had no answer for the Scarlet and Brown, who pulled away in each game for the three-set sweep.

St. Lawrence continued its winning ways against Bard, pulling away early in both the first and second sets. Though the Raptors and Saints went back-and-forth in the final set, St. Lawrence went up 20-19 and was able to hang on for the 25-23 victory after a Bard service error.

Brown and Becky Briggs led St. Lawrence with nine kills each, while Bard was led by Philippine Alba's six kills. Marczeski and Katie Kull each had 14 assists in the 6-2 system, and Marisa Turner's six digs led the Saints' defense.

"We were sloppy at times during the Bard match," added Coach Roiger, "but we were able to play our entire roster and preserve the win."

Liberty League volleyball action continues tomorrow, Saturday, October 4 in Canton, NY as St. Lawrence hosts matches at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. The Saints will host the "Power of Pink" matches in their contests against Skidmore and Vassar at the 2pm and 4pm time slots, respectively.