Potsdam, NY – Sunday saw an early senior celebration for the Clarkson University Volleyball team’s Class of 2010, and the Golden Knights gave their trio of upperclassmen a memorable effort with a straight-set victory over SUNYIT, 25-17, 25-13, 25-11, at Alumni Gymnasium.
The Golden Knights improved to 19-5 and are now 7-0 all-time against SUNYIT with a pair of victories over the Wildcats in 2009. SUNYIT fell to 14-10 on the season.
Both teams came out a little flat in the first set as neither sustained extensive rallies. Clarkson broke out of its funk first and ended the first set on a 9-1 run thanks to a strong performance late from Megan Mahon (Irvine, CA), who recorded a pair of kills to help close out the game. The Knights were able to maintain their successful run into the next set and enjoyed a dominating performance on offensive, recording 11 kills against just one error in 21 attempts.
In the third set, SUNYIT was able to achieve its first leads (3-2 and 4-3), but Clarkson came storming back and forced the Wildcats into two timeouts in hopes of ending the rally. The brief hold ups couldn’t keep the Knights from putting the game away, however, as they cruised to a double-digit victory in the set.
“Our goal was to get a win for our seniors on senior night, and I’m happy we got that accomplished,” said head coach Johan Dulfer. “We still have some little things to work on, but ironically that is actually a very good sign this late in the season. We continue to get better and have room for improvement, which we are happy about. I thought we were sloppy at times today, but we also did some really nice things, such as shutting down their big offensive weapon. SUNYIT has an excellent chance of winning their conference, so this is a good win for us.”
Overall, the Knights hit .329 in the match (37-9-85), led by Sara Artus’ (St. Regis Falls, NY) 11 kills. Mahon added eight kills in 12 swings and Courtney Haines (Crestview, FL) had six kills in 11 swings. Senior setter Jenna Stock (Johnstown, NY) produced 27 assists, 5 digs, and 4 kills in the match, and junior libero Alison Schroeder (Webster, NY) had 10 digs and 4 aces. Senior Davanna Chetney (Fulton, NY) led the team with 11 digs.
