The St. Lawrence University volleyball team clinched its first ever Liberty League Championship on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over the No. 2 seed Skidmore College Thoroughbreds.
The Saints dropped Union in the fourth and final match, moving to 26-10 on the season and going undefeated at the Liberty League tournament.
In their first match of the day, the Saints jumped out to an 8-3 run in the first set against Skidmore, but the Thoroughbreds battled back with the help of crucial St. Lawrence errors to tie the score at 14-14. The two teams then exchanged points until Skidmore went on a 5-2 run on the back of senior Meredith Palmer to take the first set 25-19.
In the second set, the Thoroughbreds crept back from a 4-2 deficit to take a 14-10 lead. The Saints then went on an 8-1 run to take an 18-15 advantage, but four straight Thoroughbred points helped Skidmore take back the lead 19-18. Junior Nyasha Miller sparked the Saint front line that started a 4-1 run to close out the second set and tie the score up 1-1.
With an 8-5 advantage in the third set, kills by Miller and junior Marta Johann coupled with blocks by Johann and Rose gave the Saints a 14-6 lead. Just when it looked like Skidmore was coming back as they closed the gap to 14-10, the Saints pulled away behind more strong play by Johann and a kill by Drozynski, opening up the largest lead of the match at 19-11. A block by Rose at the net and a kill by Miller ended set three in impressive fashion with St. Lawrence winning 25-14.
With a 2-1 lead in the match and a set away from clinching the Liberty League Championship, co-captains Rose and Miller, along with the Saint front line, brought St. Lawrence to within five points of winning the title with a 20-14 lead. A block by Grogan and a kill by Drozynski pulled the Saints to within one of the program's first conference title. After a Skidmore point, senior Jordyn Buzza's kill fittingly ended the match, splitting a Thoroughbred block and hitting the floor. Buzza's effort delivered St. Lawrence the tournament title with the 3-1 victory over Skidmore.
St. Lawrence continued its impressive run with a 3-0 win over No. 4 seed Union in the final match of the tournament. Though the Dutchwomen battled throughout each of the three games, the Scarlet and Brown showed great resiliency, winning 25-23, 27-25 and 25-21. The sweep clinched a perfect 4-0 weekend and allowed the Saints to celebrate the conference title in style.
