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Clarkson volleyball wins pair at Tom Hay Invitational

Posted 10/12/14

Springfield, MA – Dropping its first match on Friday to an unranked team for the first time since mid-September 2013, the Clarkson University Volleyball team recovered to claim a pair of victories …

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Clarkson volleyball wins pair at Tom Hay Invitational

Posted

Springfield, MA – Dropping its first match on Friday to an unranked team for the first time since mid-September 2013, the Clarkson University Volleyball team recovered to claim a pair of victories against Westfield State and Williams at the Tom Hay Invitational on Saturday.

Clarkson, ranked 11th in the country in the latest AVCA Poll, improved to 22-3 on the season. Westfield State dropped to 7-14, while Williams, receiving votes just outside the top 25 in the country, fell to 16-2.

The Golden Knights won the opening match of the day against Westfield State in three straight sets (25-12, 25-14, 25-19) and then battled through against Williams College to win in five sets (25-13, 21-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-4).

"What a difference a day makes," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "As tentative as we were yesterday, that's how aggressive we were today when it matter. We talked a lot about attacking every point as if it were match point and I thought we did that in both matches today. I continue to be amazed at how this team has the ability to bounce back when needed. I just hope we learned a little about how to attack matches from here on out. "

In a rematch from last year's NCAA New York Regional First Round, Clarkson once again came away victorious with a three-set victory over Westfield State. The Golden Knights offense hit at a .368 clip through the first two sets before struggling with 11 errors in the final set and allowing the Owls to stick around in the match. Junior Aishvina Arasu (Brea, CA) hit .462 with 13 kills and just a single error in 26 swings while Victoria Kirkemo (Englewood, CO) and Rachael Aird (East Syracuse, NY) contributed 15 combined kills. Clarkson served the Owls off the court for most of the match, producing 15 aces, with Kirkemo and Lauren Hutchinson (Spring, TX) each serving four aces and Sierra Rhoades (Poway, CA) adding in three more. Hutchinson also had 33 assists and Kirkemo led the team with 12 digs.

In the second match of the day, the Golden Knights came out swinging again, but Williams was up to the task and hit equally well after a rough first set. However, in the fifth set Clarkson found a new gear, battering the Ephs with 10 kills and no errors in 21 swings to win the finale in lopsided fashion. Victoria Kirkemo had 13 kills and 18 digs in the match, while Aishvina Arasu led the offense with 16 kills. Lauren Hutchinson produced 47 assists and 12 digs, and Evanne Jimenez (Ventura, CA) and Kristen Orlandini (Fairport, NY) contributed 23 and 13 digs, respectively.