Rochester, NY - Posting its first wins over regional powers RIT and Ithaca in over 20 years, the Clarkson University Volleyball team closed out the RIT Invitational with a pair of victories and a fifth-place finish on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Knights moved to 10-2 on the season wins over RIT (25-23, 25-11, 25-23), only their third victory ever over the Tigers and first since 1986, and Ithaca (25-18, 25-18, 25-18), also the first win over the Bombers since 1986 and only the second overall.
"I have to make the entire team a big compliment for the way we bounced back from that disappointing loss to Nazareth Friday night," coach Johan Dulfer said. "I thought we showed up ready to play and as hungry as I've seen these women play all year. Our defense was on today and we really used that when we got a swing at the net. I thought the big difference in both matches was our serving game. Simply put, we served better than our opponents passed, and passed better than they served. That's going to always put us in a great spot to get success. Coach (Alesia) Vaccari and I are very proud of how we performed at this highly competitive tournament this weekend and look forward to building on this experience as we get ready for the clash with St. Lawrence this Tuesday."
In the first match of the day against RIT, the Knights used their defense for a team total of 61 digs, led by junior Alison Schroeder (Webster, NY) with 24. Amanda Rankin (Horseheads, NY) and Davanna Chetney (Fulton, NY) each added nine digs and Jenna Stock (Johnstown, NY) contributed eight digs along with her 28 assists. Sophomore Sara Artus (St. Regis Falls, NY) had 16 kills.
Against Ithaca, Schroeder broke the school's all-time digs record as she dug out 21 attempts, surpassing Stephanie Thornton's four-year-old mark. Rankin also went into double digits with 13 digs.
On the offensive side against the Bombers, Artus again led the squad with 19 kills and Megan Mahon (Irvine, CA) produced 13 kills. Stock led the team with 37 assists.