Poughkeepsie, NY - All season long, the Clarkson University Volleyball team tried to show that it belonged among the conference elite, despite never placing higher than third in the year-end conference tournament. Saturday afternoon, the Golden Knights proved that their top-seed in the tournament was justified as they claimed their first-ever Liberty League title with a sweep of Vassar in what proved to be the championship match, winning in four sets 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-17.
The Golden Knights improved to 28-6 with their 12th win in 13 matches since mid-October. Vassar fell to 24-9 on the season, losing their only match of the tournament to Clarkson. The Green and Gold will now await their fate, as the Liberty League title winner does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament since the conference does not have enough teams to qualify, and must hope for an at-large bid. Historically, the top team in the Liberty League has moved on to the NCAA Tournament, but there are no guarantees for the Golden Knights. The NCAA Tournament pool will be announced at 11:00 am on Monday.
"What a difference a day makes," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "Our drive and passion today were simply inspiring. I think it started with our seniors' decision between last night and this morning to carry the team to a higher level and it spilled over to everyone. I am so proud and happy for the seniors who finally get to see the fruits of four years of labor. When we started this process we talked about wanting to put ourselves in a position to play for a championship. Once you're there anything can happen, and today we weren't going to lose. This team put their collective hearts on the line and pulled it off. We neutralized the service game of two of the best serving teams in the region and countered with relentless offense and great defense. This is a proud moment for Clarkson volleyball and I'm so happy for this special group of young women."
The tournament's Most Valuable Player, sophomore Sara Artus (St. Regis Falls, NY) proved that she was the most unstoppable force in the conference all season long, producing 20 kills for the third time in four matches on the weekend, averaging a ridiculous 5.47 kills per set. She also added in 13 digs.
Defense proved to be valuable for the Golden Knights throughout the tournament, and sophomore Rachel Simons (Webster, NY) was key at the net for the Knights as they had 9.5 total blocks. Simons had three solo blocks and three block assists. On the back row, Alison Schroeder (Webster, NY) led the team with 21 digs, while Amanda Rankin (Horseheads, NY) and Davanna Chetney (Fulton, NY) contributed 17 and 14 digs, respectively.
Senior Jenna Stock (Johnstown, NY), who was selected to the Liberty League Championships All-Tournament team, had 36 assists and nine digs. Sophomore Megan Mahon (Irvine, CA) contributed nine kills as well.
