Clarkson volleyball team back on winning track with three-set sweep of SUNY Potsdam

POTSDAM -- Junior Megan Mahon (Irvine, CA) recorded 12 kills and hit at nearly a .500 clip as the Clarkson University Volleyball team got back on the winning track with a three-set sweep of crosstown rival Potsdam State, 25-9, 25-14, 25-21, Wednesday night at Maxcy Hall.

The Golden Knights ended a brief two-game losing skid with the victory, improving to 16-4 overall on the season, while Potsdam dropped to 6-13 on the campaign.

In the first set, Clarkson took control early, jumping out to a 13-2 advantage, and cruised from that point on. The second two sets were slightly closer, but late runs in each allowed the Knights to take the victory. In the second set, the Knights were tied 10-10 before capturing eight of the next nine points, and in the final set, the team trailed by two, 15-13, but scored 12 of the final 18 points to claim the match.

Junior Sara Artus (St. Regis Falls, NY) backed up Mahon's performance with 11 kills. Defensively, the Knights had three players in double figures in digs, led by freshman Holly McDaniel (Hacienda Heights, NY) with 15. Senior Alison Schroeder (Webster, NY) contributed 10 digs, and freshman Lani Durio (Austin, TX) had a double-double with 28 assists and 10 digs, to go along with three service aces.

"I thought we clearly won the serve-pass battle today," coach Johan Dulfer remarked. "It was great to see that every time the game went up a notch, we responded by playing better; the cleaner the game, the crisper we were. That's a great sign at this point in the season and I think we also learned a lesson that we have to compete as hard mentally as we do physically. When we do that we are a very dangerous team. This is a very solid win for us, and we are happy to be finally playing at home this weekend.