Rochester, N.Y.- Late rallies were not enough as the Clarkson University Volleyball team closed out the 2024 regular season with a 3-0 non-league defeat at St. John Fisher, Saturday afternoon.
Clarkson moves to 12-14 with the setback as the team prepares for the Liberty League Playoffs on Tuesday evening. The Knights will host #6 seed Skidmore as the #3 seed, with the match scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.
The hosts would jump out to a quick start in the match, registering the first four points off the back of some questionable defensive play by the Knights. The Knights would begin to find their footing however, rattling off the next three points off the back of two straight serving aces from Allyson Triechel. Both teams would continue to trade points throughout the set as Clarkson managed to get within one of the Cardinals at 9-8 following a kill from Marin Hangliter. The Cardinals would respond with a four-point rally off of two attack errors and two kills for a four- point lead halfway through the set. After another three-point run from Fisher pushed the deficit to 19-14, Clarkson would rattle off the next seven points for the Knights' first lead of the set. Two kills from Hangliter over that stretch, along with a service ace from Cecillia Velardi lifted the Knights to a 21-20 advantage. After an attack error, a bad set by the Cardinals and another Kill from Treichel, the Knights found themselves with a 24-23 advantage and a chance to close out set one. The Cardinals were not done just yet however, as they managed to tie the set at 24 with a kill of their own, before a final three-point rally provided them the required two point advantage, as the hosts would take the first set 27-25.
The second set commenced much in similar fashion to the ending of the first as neither side was able to gain a glaring advantage on the scoreboard, trading points throughout the set. Clarkson would take an early 4-2 advantage following a kill from Grace Hanson and a kill and service ace from Ashley Currier. St. John Fisher managed to stay within a point or two of the Knights until a four-point run from Clarkson would expand the lead to 11-6. Hangliter and Treichel would again combine for kills, continuing to lead the Green and Gold front-line throughout the set. After another three-point run from the Knights pushed the lead to 14-8, the Cardinals would suddenly rattle off nine straight points, taking a commanding 18-14 lead. After a brief response from Clarkson to foil the Cardinals' run, the hosts would piece together another six-point rally which proved to be too much, as they would take the second set 25-16.
Headed into the third set, both teams continued to trade points with neither side leading by more than two for a majority of the time. Clarkson was able to hold leads at 8-6 and 11-9, before a four-point run from St. John Fisher opened the hosts' advantage to 18-13. The Knights continued to push back as yet another kill from Treichel followed by a block by Treichel and Currier got the Green and Gold to within one at 20-19 with the set nearing its final stretch. After two more points from the Cardinals increased the advantage to 22-19, Clarkson would go on the front foot for the next three points as two attack errors followed by a service ace from Treichel knotted the set up at 22-22. Coming out of the late timeout by the Cardinals, the hosts managed to connect for the final two points of the set, taking set three 24-22 and the match, 3-0.
Treichel connected for seven kills to lead the Knights on offense while Hangliter added six of her own. Currier added 13 assists at the middle of the Clarkson zone to go along with eight digs as Abigail Spector recorded 11 digs. For St. John Fisher, Kaylene Noble registered 15 kills and eight digs in an impressive all-around performance while Reilly Morrow aided the offense with 38 assists.
