Knights Saturday Sweep Moves Team to 6-2

Rochester, NY – Freshman Chase Chudoba had a big day from the service line and at the net, helping the Clarkson University Volleyball team to a pair of wins, beating Penn College in three (25-8, 25-9, 25-12) and then University of Rochester in four (25-23, 25-14, 16-25, 25-20) to close out the weekend at 3-1 at the Rochester Invitational.

Clarkson improved to 6-2 on the season with its Saturday sweep. The Golden Knights are on the road for another tournament next weekend in which they will face Oswego State, Alfred University, and Utica University in Oswego.

The Golden Knights started off the day right with an easy sweep of Penn College. The opening set saw Clarkson score the first four points off three aces from Chase Chudoba and one kill from Conley Burns. Only a few moments later, Clarkson led by double digits thanks to an ace from Ainslie Reimer that made it 13-3. Penn would never close to fewer than nine points, as the Knights rolled with the final eight points of the game, including two aces from Cirrae Cuffy among the final three tallies.

Set two was not as lopsided at the start, as Penn stuck around with three of the first seven points in the contest. However, Clarkson accelerated from that point on, getting six kills in a stretch of seven points and then getting back-to-back aces from Olivia Baxter to put the score at 15-3, forcing a timeout. The break halted the momentum for the Knights for a pair of points, but Clarkson continued to pour on the offense, finishing with another whopping win, this time bolstered by a .370 hitting percentage (11-1-27) in the game.

Penn had its first lead of the match with a kill at the start of the third set, but that moment was fleeting as Clarkson rattled off the next eight points, beginning with three unforced errors by the Wildcats and ending eventually on a kill from Brianna Hale. The Wildcats would keep things competitive this time around, though, as Penn's offense hit positive for the first time in the match, especially off the swings of Avani Rainier. In the end, Clarkson had too much firepower and cruised to a third straight easy win.

Conley Burns hit .455 (6-1-11) and she was tied by Jordyn Leader in the kills department (6-1-15). Chase Chudoba posted four kills and three aces and Brianna Hale ran the offense with 15 assists. Olivia Baxter also delivered four aces to go along with eight digs and Emma Cortez posted 10 digs. The Knights had 13 aces overall.

Clarkson had a lengthy break between matches as its second contest of the day was somewhat delayed as other teams went over. The Golden Knights eked out a 25-23 win in the first set against Rochester due to the Yellowjackets committing a number of attack errors, some forced and others created by four Clarkson blocks. With the Yellowjackets leading by two (19-17) after an ace from Lydia Weeks, the Knights went on a 5-0 run with the last three points coming on a combined block by Chudoba and Ainslie Reimer, then a kill from Chudoba, and another block by Chudoba. Rochester kept things close, but never could come all the way back to tie the set, as Chudoba ended the game with a kill.

The next two sets were very Jekyll and Hyde for each team. Clarkson hit .419 for a double-digit win in the second set while Rochester struggled at just .091, but in the third set it was the Yellowjackets' offense that was on, hitting .333 (13-2-33) and Clarkson with only one kill more than it had errors (8-7-29) for a .034 hitting percentage.

Set four started close, but it turned into a lopsided advantage for the Knights. Rochester got a kill from Emily Dienger to put the tally at 5-3, but the Knights went on an 8-0 run, with Chudoba again producing damage on offense and defense. She had a solo block to make it 9-3, a kill for an 11-3 edge, another solo block for a 12-3 lead, and then one more kill to make it 13-3. That pretty much did it for Rochester, though a four-kill run from Myla Estes-Nover made the Knights uneasy enough to call a timeout at 18-10. Rochester continued to crawl back into the set, but a key kill from Ainslie Reimer pushed the margin to seven (23-16) in the late moments, allowing the Knights to hold on for the win.

Chudoba hit .444 in the match for the Knights (10-2-18) and added seven blocks, including five solo efforts and two assists. Ainslie Reimer led the offense with 12 kills overall. Olivia Baxter notched 14 digs, four assists, and three aces and Brianna Hale had a double-double on 29 assists and 13 digs. Cecilia Velardi had two aces and 11 digs and Izzie Piano also chipped in three more aces for Clarkson.

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