Potsdam, NY – A brief hiccup in the first match of the day is all that kept the Clarkson University Volleyball team from a clean sweep in four matches, but the Golden Knights still picked up two more wins on the weekend, beating SUNY Geneseo (25-11, 25-10, 20-25, 25-17) and Nazareth College (25-21, 25-22, 25-19).

The Golden Knights improved to 20-3 on the season, reaching 20 victories for the 12th time in the past 13 seasons.

In the opening match of the day, Clarkson raced out to a 2-0 lead in sets thanks to excellent offense and solid defense, restricting Geneseo to -.038 in the first set and a -.100 hitting percentage in the second set. Clarkson rolled off seven straight points to open the first set, taking advantage of four mistakes by Geneseo around three kills of its own. The margin rarely reduced as Clarkson quickly pushed its advantage to double figures, and led by 13 points (20-7) after three straight kills from Delaney Harrison and one more from Rachel Reusch. From that point, Clarkson cruised to an easy win.

The second set was a repeat of the first as Clarkson again jumped out to a big early lead, 9-3, with three kills going to Kristin Werdine and two more to Maddie Bredehoeft. With the margin at 11-6, Clarkson began a run with Kate Isaksen at the service line, producing seven straight points to push the score to 18-6. With such a deficit, Geneseo had little hopes of mounting a comeback, and fell 25-10.

The visiting Knights found a streak of offense in the third set, hitting .222, and took advantage of a cold spell by Clarkson that saw the Green and Gold hit an uncharacteristically low .115. Geneseo took the early lead, but Clarkson recovered with six straight points to gain a 17-14 advantage. However, Geneseo scored 10 of the next 12 points to extend the match with a 25-20 win.

Set number four started off with a small Clarkson lead, but Geneseo fought back to tie the game at 11-11. However, Clarkson scored the next five points, with the rally starting on three straight kills from Rachel Reusch and concluding on two consecutive aces by Kristin Werdine. Geneseo climbed back to within two (19-17), but that was the final points for the visitors as Clarkson scored the final six points, including two kills and a block assist by Reusch.

For the Golden Knights, Rachel Reusch delivered 19 kills and also added in four block assists, while Kristin Werdine enjoyed a solid all-around effort with 9 kills, 14 digs and 6 aces, leading a strong serving effort that saw Clarkson record 13 aces overall. Kate Isaksen contributed to that service line run with three aces and led the team with 34 digs as well. Isabelle Crow ran the offense to the tune of 35 assists and also added 10 digs and a pair of aces. Maddie Bredehoeft also contributed nine kills and Emma Baxter had 14 digs.

For Geneseo, Alexandra Frank and Sam Mendelsohn led the defense with 20 and 18 digs, respectively. Grace Cergol scored 10 kills and Grace Thomas added 10 assists.

In the nightcap of the tournament, the Golden Knights faced a scrappy Nazareth team that kept numerous points alive that other squads would have let drop. However, Clarkson always found another gear to make sure that the set would end up in its favor.

In the opening set, the two teams jostled back and forth to the point that the teams were still tied at 20-20. However, Clarkson received kills from Delaney Harrison and Kristin Werdine to take the lead and then close out the set with a kill from Harrison and an ace by Kate Isaksen.

Nazareth jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set, but the Knights quickly rallied and turned an 11-9 deficit into a 22-14 lead with several small runs. The Golden Flyers got back into the contest and pulled within two (24-22) but Gillian Kurtic delivered a kill from the middle to win the set 25-22.

Set three saw Nazareth score three straight to start the set but Clarkson picked up the next seven points and never looked back. Up by just three (13-10), the Knights scored five straight thanks to an ace by Emma Baxter and kills from Werdine and Kurtic. Up by eight late, again it was just a matter of time before the Knights would finish things up, as another kill from Kurtic snuck inside the line near the 10-foot line to conclude the match.

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.

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