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Skidmore survives Clarkson comeback to claim Liberty League championship, 3-2

Posted 11/6/11

Potsdam, NY - With plenty of momentum shifting against it after dropping two straight sets, Skidmore College outlasted the Clarkson University Volleyball team in the fifth set to earn the Liberty …

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Skidmore survives Clarkson comeback to claim Liberty League championship, 3-2

Posted

Potsdam, NY - With plenty of momentum shifting against it after dropping two straight sets, Skidmore College outlasted the Clarkson University Volleyball team in the fifth set to earn the Liberty League Championship, 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights dropped to 28-8 overall while Skidmore College improved to 27-8. The victory (25-16, 25-23, 20-25, 20-25, 15-8) was Skidmore's first conference championship since the league changed its title in 2004, while Clarkson was vying for its second title in three seasons. Both teams will now await the NCAA Tournament committee to find out if they will be selected to participate in this year's championship tournament. The Liberty League does not have an automatic bid for its conference tournament until 2013.

Saturday's championship match was an odd one at times, as Clarkson came out with a solid advantage in the first set, 16-12. However, Elise Finnerty was able to get a kill for Skidmore to pull the Thoroughbreds back within three, and then Mallory Mendelsohn amazingly served out the set for a 25-16 victory as the Knights searched for answers at the break.

In the second set, Clarkson had a small advantage midway through the game, but Skidmore once again rallied to take a 25-23 victory off a block from Corinne Palmer and Mendelsohn. However, Clarkson had found its rhythm on offense and started to take control, winning a pair of sets back-to-back by the score of 25-20, highlighted by a .432 hitting percentage in the fourth set (19-3-37). That momentum could not be carried into the fifth and deciding set, though, as Clarkson hit -.158 with eight errors.

I thought this was a final worthy of our league this year," Clarkson head coach Johan Dulfer said. "I’m very proud of how we battled our way back into the game. Obviously it’s not fun to lose, but I’m sure our young team will learn from this and carry this experience over into future years. There is always a silver lining; we put ourselves into the position that we wanted to be at the end of the year. We did everything right, but forgot to execute when we had our chances in the first two sets and then later in the fifth. Sometimes the difference between winning and losing is miniscule, but we are looking forward to finding out if our season continues next week."

Sara Artus (St. Regis Falls, NY) had 17 kills and nine digs in the match for Clarkson, and was selected to the Liberty League Championships All-Tournament team. Freshman Adrienne Walker added in 15 kills and Megan Mahon (Irvine, CA) came through with 14 kills, hitting .423 for the match. Sophomore setter Lani Durio had 49 assists, six digs and six aces (with 10 total aces over the course of two matches), and was also picked for the All-Tournament team. Erika Chin (Katy, TX) led Clarkson with 18 digs.

For Skidmore, Kelley Vershbow was selected as the tournament's MVP with 19 kills (and 39 total in the two-day event), though she did have 10 errors. Also making the All-Tournament team were Corinne Palmer, who had 15 kills against only a single error in 29 attempts to go along with five total blocks, and Mallory Mendelsohn, who produced 45 assists and four aces on Saturday. Elise Finnerty also added 14 kills and four blocks for the Thoroughbreds. Sam Friedman topped Skidmore with 16 digs.

Joining the five members from Skidmore and Clarkson on the All-Tournament team were Marie Petrie (Vassar College) and Nyasha Miller (St. Lawrence).