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Scoreboard

Clarkson University Athletics

VBkeuka21
Gary Mikel
1
Stevenson Stev 26-7,7-1 MAC Commonwealth
3
Winner Clarkson CLK 20-9,6-2 Liberty League
Stevenson Stev
26-7,7-1 MAC Commonwealth
1
Final
3
Clarkson CLK
20-9,6-2 Liberty League
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Stevenson Stev 16 27 14 19 (1)
Clarkson CLK 25 25 25 25 (3)

Next Match:

vs. Hoboken Regional - New York University

11/13/2021 | 2:30 pm

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Full Schedule
Nov. 13 (Sat) / 2:30 pm
vs. Hoboken Regional - New York University
History

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Knights Advance to NCAA Second Round with Four-Set Win over Stevenson

Hoboken, NJ – Grad student Gillian Kurtic started off quietly for the Clarkson University Volleyball team on Friday afternoon, but the all-star was unstoppable in the final two sets of the Golden Knights' 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-14, 25-19) victory over Stevenson University in the first round of the NCAA Division III Volleyball Hoboken Regional.

The Golden Knights, seeded fourth in the regional, picked up their 20th win of the season to improve to 20-9, while fifth-seeded Stevenson saw its season end at 26-7. Clarkson will take on top-seeded New York University in the second round at 2:30 pm tomorrow. Clarkson has faced NYU twice before in the NCAA Tournament, falling in the second round to the Violets back in 2010 and beating NYU in the second round in 2013.

This marks the 10th straight NCAA First Round win for the Golden Knights, beginning back in 2010. The only time that Clarkson has failed to advance to the second round was their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2009.

CLARKSON VOLLEYBALL POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE (11/12/2021)

Jitters by the opposition helped the Golden Knights jump out to a big lead in the early going of the first set. Clarkson won seven of the first nine points and 12 of the first 17, but just half of those points came from the Knights' offense. Clarkson's offense did begin to roll once Stevenson exhausted its timeouts as several players stepped up to deliver kills to keep the Mustangs at a solid distance. Clarkson pushed its lead to as many as nine on five different occasions, including the final point of the set, as Annabella Regan delivered her fourth kill of the game to close things out.

Stevenson settled in during the second set after hitting just .056 in the opener, and the Mustangs .225 hitting percentage in the second proved enough to win. The two teams went back and forth throughout, with 15 ties overall. Stevenson gained a couple of two-point leads and forced the Knights to take an early timeout. Out of that break, Clarkson went on a 7-1 run, which included a block and a kill from Gillian Kurtic, to put the Knights up 15-11. However, Stevenson did not buckled and came back to tie the set at 17-17. From that point on, the two teams traded points until the Mustangs scored two straight to put the Knights on their heels at 24-22. A kill from Regan and an ace from Emma Baxter tied the set at 24, but Stevenson got key kills from middle hitter Darian Dildy to close out the set, 27-25.

The third set looked like it might be a repeat of the second as the teams remained close through the first half of the game. Tied up at 11-11 after a pair of errors by the Knights, Clarkson responded with eight straight points, beginning with three errors from the Mustangs and then moving forward with kills by Kurtic and Regan as well as an ace from Cel Barrera-Lopez. The Golden Knights fed Kurtic often down the stretch, as the grad student took over and finished with seven kills and an ace in the third game, allowing the Knights to pull away for a 25-14 victory.

In the fourth set, Clarkson again used a big run out of a timeout to pull away from the Mustangs. Up 10-6, the Knights surrendered two points to Stevenson but Clarkson head coach Carol LaMarche felt the need to halt the run before any momentum could truly shift. The strategy worked, as the Knights picked up six straight points, including back-to-back blocks (Kurtic and Werdine) and then back-to-back kills (Kurtic and Werdine). Stevenson recovered to pull within four on three occasions, but the Knights always had an answer, usually coming in the way of kills from Kurtic.

Kurtic finished with a .515 hitting percentage in the match, delivering 18 kills against just one error on 33 swings, with 14 of those kills coming in the final two sets of the match. She also added five total blocks. Annabella Regan came within two of her season-high for kills, recording 12 on 28 attempts, while also adding in four total blocks. Kristin Werdine also finished in double figures for kills with 11 for the Knights, and Olivia Freer added eight kills. Isabelle Crow ran the offense to the tune of 48 assists and also was second on the team in digs with 11, tied with Cel Barrera-Lopez. The team leader in digs was Emma Baxter, as she had 19.

For the Mustangs, Sophia Eckerd had 14 kills and four total blocks while MacKenzie Blevins was close to a triple-double with 8 kills, 18 assists, and 11 digs. Makayla Thompson also had 18 assists, and Kayla Vaeth contributed 14 digs.






 
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Players Mentioned

Cel Barrera-Lopez

#3 Cel Barrera-Lopez

L/DS
5' 2"
Senior
Emma Baxter

#2 Emma Baxter

L/DS
5' 5"
Junior
Isabelle Crow

#11 Isabelle Crow

S
5' 8"
Junior
Olivia Freer

#16 Olivia Freer

OH
6' 0"
Sophomore
Gillian Kurtic

#14 Gillian Kurtic

MH/RS
6' 3"
Graduate Student
Kristin Werdine

#12 Kristin Werdine

OH
5' 8"
Junior
Annabella Regan

#4 Annabella Regan

OH
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Cel Barrera-Lopez

#3 Cel Barrera-Lopez

5' 2"
Senior
L/DS
Emma Baxter

#2 Emma Baxter

5' 5"
Junior
L/DS
Isabelle Crow

#11 Isabelle Crow

5' 8"
Junior
S
Olivia Freer

#16 Olivia Freer

6' 0"
Sophomore
OH
Gillian Kurtic

#14 Gillian Kurtic

6' 3"
Graduate Student
MH/RS
Kristin Werdine

#12 Kristin Werdine

5' 8"
Junior
OH
Annabella Regan

#4 Annabella Regan

5' 11"
Freshman
OH