Potsdam, NY – Running its winning streak to seven matches, including five straight sweeps in the Liberty League, the Clarkson University Volleyball team began its second home tournament with a pair of sweeps, downing St. Lawrence University (25-14, 25-11, 25-14) and Arcadia University (25-18, 25-20, 25-16) on Friday at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights improved to 18-3 on the season and the team will host SUNY Geneseo and Nazareth College on Saturday.

Clarkson clinched a Liberty League playoff spot with its win over St. Lawrence in the opener, doing so in convincing fashion by hitting .397 in the match and holding the Saints to a .063 rate.

In the opening set, the game was close in the early going and Clarkson led by just three near the midway point (13-10). However, three errors (service, ball-handling, attack) gave the Knights three quick points. Another run of six straight points, including two kills by Maddie Bredehoeft, allowed Clarkson to double-up St. Lawrence (22-11) and the Knights cruised from that point on.

Set two saw Clarkson record the first five points, capped by two aces from Celestial Barrera-Lopez. St. Lawrence closed the gap to as few as two points, but the Knights rattled off seven straight midway through the set to take an overwhelming 20-8 lead, thanks to three kills from Kristin Werdine. The third set was much like the first two, with the Saints finding themselves within striking distance near the midway point. Clarkson held a narrow 17-14 edge, but finished the game with eight straight points. Werdine notched a pair of assist and Rachel Reusch struck for a pair of kills to close out the set.

Reusch finished with 12 kills with no errors on 18 attacks and also produced seven total blocks. Werdine added nine kills, eight digs and a pair of aces and both Maddie Bredehoeft and Delaney Harrison struck for six kills. Isabelle Crow made sure that the Knights hit at least .370 in each set and contributed 32 assists, while Kate Isaksen led the defense with 12 digs. For St. Lawrence, Jenna Britton had 21 assists and three aces and Natalie Piper scored seven kills with 10 digs.

Against Arcadia, the two teams exchanged points in the early going, with Clarkson edging out in front 10-9. Kills by Emma Baxter and Kristin Werdine, as well as an ace by Kate Isaksen, extended Clarkson's lead to four and the Knights maintained at least a three-point margin for the rest of the set. Up by five late (20-15), a kill by Gillian Kurtic and an ace by Baxter put the Knights up seven, which ended up as the final margin in the set.

The second set proved to be the closest of the three games, with Clarkson picking up key points in the early going to claim a small advantage. Eventually, Clarkson doubled up Arcadia (14-7), following a four-point run which was punctuated by two kills from Werdine. Arcadia would not go away in the second game, however, and Clarkson simply outlasted the visitors down the stretch for a five-point win.

The third set was a different story, as Clarkson raced out to a 9-2 lead thanks to two aces from Celestial Barrera-Lopez and some miscues by Arcadia. The deficit was reduced to just three (10-7), but Clarkson rattled off nine straight points to take an overwhelming lead as Isabelle Crow's serve kept Arcadia uncomfortable and out of system, allowing the Golden Knights to earn points on Arcadia errors and their own kills when the visitors were out of sorts. It was only a matter of time before Clarkson would close out the set, which the team did on a kill from Werdine.

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.

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