Potsdam, NY – Once again, the Clarkson University Volleyball defense proved to be too much for its opponent, as the Golden Knights kept numerous rallies alive long enough to score points in a three-set sweep of St. Lawrence, 25-18, 27-25, 25-20, Tuesday night at Alumni Gymnasium.
The Golden Knights won their third straight match to improve to 11-2 overall while the Saints fell to 12-2, with their only two losses coming against Clarkson. The two teams will meet again next Friday evening in Canton.
The Golden Knights found themselves trailing by three points early on in the first set, but an impressive serving streak from Megan Mahon (Irvine, CA), which included four aces, gave Clarkson a five-point lead (17-12) at the completion of her rotation in the back row. The Saints clawed back to within one with one rally, but the Knights responded to close out the set by seven points, 25-18.
The second set started off with the Knights out to a 6-2 lead, but St. Lawrence quickly turned the tables to take a modest lead that pushed to as many as five points. However, Clarkson slowly closed the gap to a deficit of just two points, 20-18, causing a Saints’ timeout. Though the Knights closed to within one on a four separate occasions, it wasn’t until their last chance that the score was tied up 24-24, forcing the play into extra time. Thanks to a couple of St. Lawrence errors, the Knights completed the comeback, winning 27-25.
In the final set, there were no great rallies for comebacks as the game was tight the entire way. Neither team was particularly solid with its offensive game as both made numerous errors on the attack. Late in the frame, senior MacKenzie Cook (Syracuse, NY) found a good rhythm, scoring three straight kills to give the Knights a solid edge, finishing up at 25-20.
“Between sets two and three, we made a slight defensive adjustment that we then executed perfectly in the third set,” said Clarkson head coach Johan Dulfer.” That along with some great setting choices allowed us to finish out the match the way we did.”
Junior libero Alison Schroeder (Webster, NY) had 24 digs, including an incredible 13 in the first set, out of the team’s 62 digs in the contest. Senior setter Jenna Stock (Johnstown, NY) contributed 15 digs to go along with her 26 assists. Sophomore outside hitter Sara Artus (St. Regis Falls, NY) led the squad with 12 kills, but it Cook who posted the best percentage, killing 9 points with only 2 errors in 16 swings. Mahon also added seven kills and four aces, while sophomore Rachel Simons (Webster, NY) had six blocks, including three solo denials.
“I have to thank our awesome crowd in coming out in such large numbers and giving us the support they did in this important match,” added coach Dulfer. I don’t think we played our best match of the season, but I liked the determination in the team that we were not going to lose tonight. I thought after we settled in the difference in the match tonight was that we played the big points better than St. Lawrence did; especially our serving came up big at critical points late in sets. We’re happy to get a good win and to get a few days off.”
