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Knights volleyball take two at NYU regional challenge

Posted 10/27/12

New York, NY – Two years ago in the NCAA Tournament, the Clarkson University Volleyball team was eliminated from the Round of 32 in a three-set sweep at the hands of New York University. Though the …

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Knights volleyball take two at NYU regional challenge

Posted

New York, NY – Two years ago in the NCAA Tournament, the Clarkson University Volleyball team was eliminated from the Round of 32 in a three-set sweep at the hands of New York University. Though the situation wasn’t quite as tumultuous, the Golden Knights returned to the same site and exacted a tiny bit of revenge with a four-set victory over the Violets and claim their third win in four matches at the New York Regional Challenge.

The Golden Knights swept a three-set match against Mount St. Vincent before taking down NYU in four sets, improving to 26-6 overall on the season. Clarkson has the week to think about the Liberty League Championships now, as the Golden Knights, seeded second in the conference, will take on Vassar on Friday and with a win will move on to the championship round on Saturday.

In the Knights’ first match of the day, the Golden Knights cruised past Mount St. Vincent in three sets (25-9, 25-11, 25-13). Clarkson started with a hiccup in the first set, but quickly asserted itself offensively with 15 kills in the final 31 swings of the set. Though the rate of success fell slightly in the next two sets, the Knights were able to pick up the victory in just 56 minutes. Freshman Victoria Kirkemo (Englewood, CO) was a dominant force in three sets for the Knights, posting a double-double with a career-high 21 kills and adding in 11 digs and 3 aces. Classmate Danielle Farabee (Spring, TX) hit at a .462 clip with eight kills and two errors in 13 swings as well. Junior Lani Durio (Austin, TX) went back to full-time setting duties after suffering an injury and had 38 assists in three sets (12.67 per set) and six aces. Classmate Erika Chin (Katy, TX) led the team on defense with 13 digs while Kirstie Shurie (LaCanada, CA) tossed in 10 digs.

In the second match, the Golden Knights won in four sets with dominating efforts in the first two games (25-12, 25-15, 21-25, 25-23). Adrienne Walker (Centennial, CO), who has no unfortunate memories of losing to NYU two years ago since she is only a sophomore, had a strong match with 11 kills and only one error in 23 swings and then added in six total blocks, including two solo, and five service aces. Freshman Aishvina Arasu (Brea, CA), who sat out the first match of the day, came out strong and struck for 14 kills. Durio ran the offense for 33 assists and Erika Chin led the team with 21 digs. Sophomore Kristen Orlandini (Fairport, NY) also added in 11 digs and a pair of aces.

"We played a very strong match against NYU and I was most impressed with our composure when they started climbing back into it a little," coach Johan Dulfer said. "We played the big points tough which was great to see. Hopefully we learned an important lesson about the "grr" factor this weekend so we can apply it next week."