2019 Clarkson Invitational (10/18-19)

2019 Clarkson Invitational All-Tournament Team
MVP - Rachel Reusch (Clarkson University)
Jessica Barry (Nazareth College)
Grace Cergol (SUNY Geneseo)
Kate Isaksen (Clarkson University)
Natalie Piper (St. Lawrence University)
Maddie Sehrt (Arcadia University)

Schedule - Friday, October 18th
4:00 pm - Clarkson 3, St. Lawrence 0 - BOX SCORE
Set 1: Clarkson 25, St. Lawrence 14
Set 2: Clarkson 25, St. Lawrence 11
Set 3: Clarkson 25, St. Lawrence 14

RECAP: The Golden Knights put up an impressive overall offensive effort, hitting at least .370 in all three sets while holding St. Lawrence below .100 in each of the games. Clarkson never trailed in the match thanks to very few miscues. The Knights had just four hitting errors and three service errors, while uncharacteristically suffering six reception errors. However, the Saints could not maintain the pace of the Knights and totaled just 39 points in the match.

Senior Rachel Reusch delivered 12 kills with no errors in 18 swings and also had seven total blocks while Kristin Werdine struck for nine kills. Isabelle Crow produced 32 assists and Kate Isaksen added in 12 digs. For ST. Lawrence, Jenna Britton had 21 assists and three aces. Vivian Susko recorded 11 digs and Natalie Piper had seven kills and 10 digs. 

6:00 pm - SUNY Geneseo 3, Nazareth 2 - BOX SCORE
Set 1: SUNY Geneseo 25, Nazareth 17
Set 2: Nazareth 26, SUNY Geneseo 24
Set 3: Nazareth 25, SUNY Geneseo 15
Set 4: SUNY Geneseo 25, Nazareth 16
Set 5: SUNY Geneseo 15, Nazareth 8

RECAP: A back and forth affair saw SUNY Geneseo pick up some momentum late in the fourth set and carry that edge into the fifth game, where the Knights prevailed. Geneseo started off strong and looked capable of earning a sweep, but the Golden Flyers found an offensive groove late in the second set and carried that over to a lopsided win in the third, but Naz was unable to maintain it to gain the win.

Grace Cergol struck for 15 kills and added 12 digs for Geneseo, while Abby May added 11 kills. Sam Mendelsohn was busy with 35 digs and Alexandra Frank kicked in 23 digs for Geneseo. For Nazareth, Jessica Barry delivered 36 assists, 13 digs and tossed in three aces. McKenzie Hart added 30 digs and four aces while Danielle Synowski and Melissa Newcomb each contributed 11 kills. 

8:00 pm - Clarkson 3, Arcadia 0 - BOX SCORE
Set 1: Clarkson 25, Arcadia 18
Set 2: Clarkson 25, Arcadia 20
Set 3: Clarkson 25, Arcadia 16

RECAP: Clarkson found enjoyed solid runs at key moments in each set to gain a three-set sweep of Arcadia. In the first set, Clarkson turned a 10-9 lead into a 17-11 advantage and finished off with a seven-point win. In the second set, the Golden Knights turned an 8-6 advantage into a 14-7 lead and concluded with a five-point win, and in the final set, Clarkson rattled off nine straight points with Isabelle Crow at the service line to cruise in the final game. 

Kate Isaksen led the team with 24 digs and Isabelle Crow added in 30 assists running the team's offense. Werdine had nine kills, Delaney Harrison produced eight kills, and Rachel Reusch had seven kills and four block assists.

For Arcadia, Maddie Sehrt hit above .400 with 11 kills and just two errors in 21 swings, while Shannon Ryan led the team with 13 kills. Julia Paliwodzinski had 27 assists and Emily Eng notched 22 digs.

Schedule - Saturday, October 19th
11:00 am - Clarkson 3, SUNY Geneseo 1 - BOX SCORE
Set 1: Clarkson 25, SUNY Geneseo 11
Set 2: Clarkson 25, SUNY Geneseo 10
Set 3: SUNY Geneseo 25, Clarkson 20
Set 4: Clarkson 25, SUNY Geneseo 17

RECAP: Geneseo struggled offensively in the first two sets, but turned things around in the third set with a solid showing but Clarkson's serve game proved too difficult to handle as the Knights picked up a four-set win against the SUNYAC's leader. Clarkson recorded 13 service aces in the match.

Senior Rachel Reusch notched 19 kills and four blocks assists while both Kristin Werdine and Maddie Bredehoeft added nine kills. Werdine was especially tough on serves, recording six aces. Kate Isaksen also had three aces to go along with her match-high 34 digs. Isabelle Crow produced a double-double on 35 assists and 10 digs and Emma Baxter also contributed 14 digs. 

For Geneseo, Grace Cergol recorded 10 kills and Grace Thomas had 20 assists. Alexandra Frank and Sam Mendelsohn had 20 and 18 digs, respectively. Geneseo hit negative in the first two sets. 

1:00 pm - St. Lawrence 3, Nazareth 0 - BOX SCORE
Set 1: St. Lawrence 25, Nazareth 16
Set 2: St. Lawrence 26, Nazareth 24
Set 3: St. Lawrence 26, Nazareth 24

RECAP: St. Lawrence was dominant in the first set with a .270 attack percentage while holding Nazareth to a .045 hitting rate. However, the next two sets required extra points to solve the games, but the Saints nevertheless came away with a sweep by getting key points down the stretch.

Natalie Piper scored 17 kills and notched 16 digs in the sweep for St. Lawrence. Jenna Britton had 24 assists and 10 digs, while Annika Kreppein added seven kills and 14 digs. Vivian Susko produced 23 digs and Julia Wagner added to the defensive effort with five block assists. For Nazareth, Jessica Barry ran the offense with 26 assists and also added eight digs and three block assists. Danielle Synowski had 10 kills and 13 digs and Delaney Martin tossed in eight kills and 11 digs. McKenzie Hart also had 25 digs. 

3:00 pm - SUNY Geneseo 3, St. Lawrence 0 - BOX SCORE
Set 1: St. Lawrence 25, SUNY Geneseo 21
Set 2: SUNY Geneseo 25, St. Lawrence 20
Set 3: SUNY Geneseo 25, St. Lawrence 15
Set 4: St. Lawrence 25, SUNY Geneseo 16
Set 5: SUNY Geneseo 15, St. Lawrence 6

RECAP: Momentum shifted more often than toddlers on a teeter-totter in the matchup between Geneseo and St. Lawrence. The Saints took control early, only to see Geneseo find a groove offensively in the second and third sets. SLU picked things up again in the fourth, but ran out of gas in the fifth, hitting -.207 in the final set.

Kiersten Colvin knocked down 14 kills for the Knights and Grace Cergol notched a double-double on 12 kills and 15 digs. Grace Thomas chipped in 44 assists and 18 digs and Sam Mendelsohn had 36 digs from the back row for Geneseo.

For SLU, Natalie Piper scored 21 kills and 15 digs and Vivian Susko produced 31 digs. Julia Wagner and Marissa Parker each scored nine kills and Jenna Britton tossed in 26 assists. 

5:00 pm - Clarkson 3, Nazareth 0 - BOX SCORE
Set 1: Clarkson 25, Nazareth 21
Set 2: Clarkson 25, Nazareth 22
Set 3: Clarkson 25, Nazareth 19

RECAP: Nazareth put forth a scrappy defensive effort, keeping points alive long after it appeared that they were finished, but the Golden Flyers just did not have enough to keep up with Clarkson. The Golden Knights trailed in the early going in the second and third sets, but turned things around near the midway point of each. In the third, Clarkson led 11-9 and turned the advantage into an eight-point lead (18-10). From that point, it was only a matter of time before Clarkson would compete the sweep.

Kristin Werdine scored 11 kills and a pair of aces to go along with eight digs. Rachel Reusch added eight kills to the team's offense and Isabelle Crow recorded 32 digs. Kate Isaksen and Emma Baxter contributed 18 and 13 digs, respectively, to the Knights' effort. For Nazareth, Jessica Barry had 24 assist, 10 digs and 5 block assists while McKenzie Hart tossed in 17 digs and Delaney Martin led the offense with nine kills.