Golden Knight Invitational

All-Tournament Team
Sara Hain (Stevens) - MVP
Laiken Fox (Brockport)
Kate Isaksen (Clarkson)
Natalie Magallon (Potsdam)
Shelby Stewart (Stevens)
Lindsey Pugh (Susquehanna)

Schedule
Saturday, September 15th
Match 1 (1:00 pm): 
Clarkson 3, Potsdam 1 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Clarkson 25, Potsdam 22
Set 2: Potsdam 25, Clarkson 21
Set 3: Clarkson 25, Potsdam 21
Set 4: Clarkson 25, Potsdam 10

WRAP UP: The Bears played scrappy defense and found a few holes around the Clarkson block, but the Golden Knights' middle hitters were virtually unstoppable as the Green and Gold claimed a four-set victory against SUNY Potsdam in the opener of the tournament. 

The first three sets were tightly contested, but Clarkson enjoyed a big serving run in the fourth set to put the game away quickly, pushing out to a 16-2 lead thanks to unforced errors by the Bears and a big block that wouldn't allow many attempts over the net. Junior Rachel Reusch delivered seven total blocks, including six solo efforts, to go along with a .294 hitting percentage with 13 kills on 34 tries. Sophomore Gillian Kurtic hit .650 in the match, striking 14 kills against just one error in 20 swings. Kate Isaksen produced 28 digs, including 18 in the middle two sets, and Kendall Cheval added a solid all-around line with 8 kills, 20 digs, and 3 aces. Amanda Collins and Haley Aud split setting duties, recording 26 and 20, respectively.

For the Bears, Gabby Scott contributed 16 kills and 13 digs and Natalie Magallon had 29 digs. Potsdam hit just .019 of the match, but that lower percentage was pushed heavily by a -.306 attack percentage in the fourth set (2-13-36). In the first three sets, Potsdam hit 29-15-125 (.112).

Match 2 (3:00 pm): 
Susquehanna 3, Brockport 0 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Susquehanna 25, Brockport 23
Set 2: Susquehanna 25, Brockport 14
Set 3: Susquehanna 25, Brockport 20

WRAP UP: Trailing early in the first set by a solid margin, the River Hawks roared back to narrowly win the opener and then used that momentum to win the next two sets for a three-set sweep of Brockport in the second match of the Golden Knights Invitational.

The River Hawks committed 10 errors on 50 attacks in the first set, but squeaked out the victory. From there, Susquehanna hit .327 over the last two games of the match. Sydney Portale struck for eight kills and Kody Dillon added seven kills as the River Hawks received contributions across the board. Lindsey Pugh delivered 21 assists and Lizzie Herestofa had 16 digs.

For Brockport, Laiken Fox struck for 11 kills and Lindsey Luce added eight kills.. Lauren Hess had the best percentage (.500) with six kills on 12 swings. Emily Orminski ran the offense with 26 assists and also added three aces. Maddy Taylor produced 13 digs in the back row. 

Match 3 (5:00 pm):
Stevens 3, Clarkson 0 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Stevens 25, Clarkson 18
Set 2: Stevens 25, Clarkson 20
Set 3: Stevens 25, Clarkson 15

WRAP UP: The Ducks possessed just a few too many offensive options for the Golden Knights to contain, as Stevens hit .257 in the match with 37 kills and nine errors (with only one total block by the Knights). Conversely, Clarkson had difficulty getting clean looks at the Stevens defense and the Knights found themselves committing at least seven attack errors in each of the three sets.

Rachel Reusch delivered 10 kills to lead the Clarkson offense, while Gillian Kurtic hit .357 (6-1-14). Amanda Collins found her teammates on 18 occasions and Kate Isaksen produced 21 digs and five assists for the Knights. 

For Stevens, Taleen Mitchell produced a double-double on 11 kills and 12 digs. Sara Hain hit .500 (9-1-16) and Shelby Stewart and Corinne Dougherty combined for 13 more kills. Elizabeth Chu recorded 20 digs and a pair of aces, while Brianna Perez and Julie Greco tallied 16 and 11 assists, respectively.

Match 4 (7:00 pm)
Stevens 3, Brockport 0 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Stevens 25, Brockport 17
Set 2: Stevens 26, Brockport 24
Set 3: Stevens 25, Brockport 20

WRAP UP: Errors came at key times for Brockport as the Golden Eagles hung with Stevens in the latter two sets but found themselves done in by hitting miscues. Conversely, Stevens upped its hitting percentage in each of the three sets, including a .312 success rate in the third and final set. 

Shelby Stewart hit .467 (8-1-15) and Sarah Hain wnt 7-2-16 (.312) to lead the offense for Stevnes, while Corinne Dougherty and Taleen Mitchell added in eight and seven kills, respectively. Julie Greco and Brianna Perez split setting duties, combining for 26, and Elizabeth Chu added 19 digs and two aces.

Brockport received solid performances from its outside hitters, getting 15 kills from Laiken Fox and 11 more kills from Lindsey Luce. Kerry McHale ran the offense with 23 assists and Maddy Taylor recorded 15 digs on the defensive end. 

Match 5 (7:00 pm - at SUNY Potsdam)
Susquehanna 3, Potsdam 0 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Susquehanna 25, Potsdam 12
Set 2: Susquehanna 25, Potsdam 20
Set 3: Susquehanna 25, Potsdam 19

WRAP UP: Potsdam's struggles on offense from the final set against the Golden Knights carried over to its match against Susquehanna as the Bears hit -.300 with just three kills and nine errors in the first game. Although the Bears recovered, the River Hawks possessed too much offense for Potsdam to overcome.

Kody Dillon led Susquehanna with seven kills, but there were six other players for the River Hawks that reached at least three kills in the match as the team hit .286 overall. Lindsey Pugh had 22 assists and Lizzie Herestofa produced 11 digs. 

Nicole Hansen led the Bears with six kills, Natalie Magallon had 10 digs and Brianna Rodda produced 15 assists.


Sunday, September 16th
Match 6 (11:00 am) 
Clarkson 3, Susquehanna 1 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Susquehanna 25, Clarkson 18
Set 2: Clarkson 25, Susquehanna 18
Set 3: Clarkson 25, Susquehanna 23
Set 4: Clarkson 25, Susquehanna 20

WRAP UP: The Golden Knights hit negative in the first set against Susquehanna, but got back on the track for the final three to take care of the River Hawks, who struggled with a negative hitting percentage of their own in the fourth and final set.

Junior Kate Isaksen almost single-handedly, and sometimes literally, ran the Golden Knights defense, recording 47 of the team's 93 total digs, just one short of her career-high that was produced in a five-set match last year. On offense, Rachel Reusch delivered 13 kills and three total blocks while Gillian Kurtic contributed nine kills and five block assists. Amanda Collins produced 34 assists. Senior Kendall Cheval came within a single kill of a double-double with nine kills and 12 digs.

The River Hawks hit -.034 in the fourth set (11-13-59) and hovered just above .100 in their three other sets. Sydney Portale scored 16 kills to lead the Susquehanna offense while Riley O'Dowd added 11 kills and Hannah Lyons tossed in nine kills. Lindsey Pugh had 40 assists while Lizzie Herestofa and Kasey Bost posted 27 and 24 digs, respectively. 

Match 7 (11:00 am - at SUNY Potsdam)
Stevens 3, Potsdam 1 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Stevens 25, Potsdam 11
Set 2: Stevens 25, Potsdam 23
Set 3: Potsdam 25, Stevens 19
Set 4: Stevens 25, Potsdam 18

WRAP UP: Potsdam put up a scrappy effort in its final match of the weekend, taking a set from regional power Stevens, but the Ducks had entirely too much offense for the Bears to handle.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Potsdam's performance was that the Bears eked out a win in the third set despite Stevens hitting .343 (16-4-35). 

Corinne Dougherty and Shelby Stewart each produced nine kills to lead the Ducks, but Sara Hain was virtually unstoppable in two sets, hitting .889 with eight kills in nine swings. Brianna Perez and Julie Greco again split setting duties, scoring 18 and 15 assists, respectively.

Gabby Scott scored nine kills for the Bears, but also committed 13 errors. Natalie Magallon led the defense with 18 digs and three aces, while Brianna Rodda had 22 assists and eight digs. 

Match 8 (1:00 pm)
Stevens 3, Susquehanna 2 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Susquehanna 25, Stevens 17
Set 2: Susquehanna 26, Stevens 24
Set 3: Stevens 25, Susquehanna 23
Set 4: Stevens 25, Susquehanna 20
Set 5: Stevens 15, Susquehanna 12

WRAP UP: In a match punctuated by long rallies and plenty of momentum shifts, Stevens outlasted Susquehanna for a five-set victory in match eight of the tournament. 

The Ducks began slow with a 5-6-40 hitting line in the opener (-.025) but recovered to hit .137 for the match. The River Hawks were at the other end of the spectrum, beginning hot but colling off to have just one more kill than errors (18-17-77) in the final two sets.

Sara Hain delivered 15 kills with a .333 hitting percentage for Stevens and Shelby Stewart hit .379 with 14 kills for the Ducks. Julie Greco and Brianna Perez split the setting duties with 23 and 21 assists, respectively, while Elizabeth Chu contributed 26 digs. Taleen Mitchell hit negative for the match (8-10-70) but still added 22 digs and four block assists.

For the River Hawks, four players finished in double figures for kills, led by Sydney Portale with 16 kills. Brooke Lacesa tossed in 14 kills, Hannah Lyons added 12 and Riley O'Dowd had 10. Lindsey Pugh was busy distributing the ball with 55 assists and helped out defensively with 17 digs. Caroline Beohm and Lizzie Herestofa each topped 20 digs, notching 25 and 23, respectively. 

Match 9 (3:00 pm) 
Brockport 3, Clarkson 2 (BOX SCORE)
Set 1: Clarkson 25, Brockport 16
Set 2: Brockport 25, Clarkson 21
Set 3: Clarkson 25, Brockport 15
Set 4: Brockport 25, Clarkson 22
Set 5: Brockport 15, Clarkson 9

WRAP UP: Although the Golden Knights won their two sets handily, Brockport was able to squeak out two wins of its own and used the momentum from set number four to jump out to a sizeable lead in the fifth set and held on for the victory.

Once again, Kate Isaksen was a force on the back row, producing 46 digs, just two short of her career-high. Rachel Reusch and Gillian Kurtic each scored 13 kills for Clarkson, with the latter hitting .360 in the match and the former adding in five blocks. Amanda Collins ran the offense with 37 assists to go along with 11 digs. Kendall Cheval and Meghan Edmund also chipped in on defense with 14 and 13 digs, respectively.

Laiken Fox led Brockport with 17 kills from the outside, while Lindsey Luce scored her 12 kills with back row attacks and on the outside. Emily Orminski recorded a double-double on 39 assists and 12 digs. Maddy Taylor notched 24 digs for the Golden Eagles.