St. Lawrence University attacker Natalie Parker (7)
drives the ball past Clarkson defenders Maddie
Bredehoeft (5) and Gillian Kurtic (14) to earn a point
for the saints midway through the second set. Clarkson
advances to the Liberty League Championship over the
Saints 3-0. (Cody Jenne photo)
Game Gallery
St.
Lawrence’s Grace Kelly (10) slams the ball over
Potsdam’s Monica Mack (8) and Brianna Rodda (19). St.
Lawrence wins the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead,
drops a close third set before survival another close
score in the fourth set for a 32-1 lead over SUNY
Potsdam at Maxcy Hall. (Zachary Matthie photo)
Match Gallery
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September 27: The St. Lawrence University volleyball team
claimed the first set by a score of 25-20, but fell to
Clarkson 3-1 after scores of 25-22, 25-16 and 29-27 in the
next three sets Wednesday evening in Potsdam. The Saints
came out swinging and took a 6-0 lead to start the first
set. Masha Kolesnikova recorded two service aces and Grace
Kelly tallied two kills within the first six points. Despite
multiple comeback attempts by the Golden Knights the Saints
carried the lead all the way through the first set. Kelly
led the Saints with 14 kills, while Kolesnikova recorded 10
and Julia Wagner added seven. Katie Kull, who currently
ranks fourth nationally with 11.02 assists per set, finished
the evening with 38 assists. Ally Good added 25 digs and Mac
Barnes posted a season-high of seven blocks. In the second
set, the Golden Knights tallied eight-straight points down
the stretch for the 25-22 win and tied the match 1-1.
Clarkson then posted a 25-16 win over the Saints after
securing the lead for the second match in a row, and posted
scores of 10-5 and 20-12 along the way. The Saints matched
Clarkson point-for-point in the fourth and final set. A bad
set and attack error on Clarkson allowed the Saints to take
their first lead of the match and hold a one point advantage
(20-19). The match extended and Clarkson claimed a 29-27
win. "Entering the game, we knew we needed to execute at a
high level both offensively and defensively. That started
with winning the battle of first contact and I thought our
serving game set the tone for set 1," said head coach Shelly
Roiger. "We lost some of that purposefulness during set two
and three, but I liked our comeback in set two.
Unfortunately, we gave up a big rally late in set two and I
think that was the turning point of the match. Going into
the fourth set, we decided to increase our aggressiveness
with the serve and we did so but we failed to execute that
level at the end of the fourth set. Part of me is extremely
proud of the team for the fight they showed tonight and part
of me knows that in the end, it's still a loss. We entered
Alumni Gymnasium on a mission to leave with a win because
that's why you put on the jersey. From that standpoint, our
mission was not completed. We have one day to prepare for
four matches this weekend and the message tomorrow will be
to show that same high level of competition with each other
every time, every practice." The Golden Knights were led by
Rachael Aird with 14 kills, while Kendall Cheval and Rachel
Reusch added nine each. Jillian Saenz assisted on 33 points
and Kate Isaksen tallied 18 digs for Clarkson. St. Lawrence
fell to 10-6 on the season and 1-2 in Liberty League play,
while Clarkson improved to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in conference
play. Up next, the Saints co-host the Canton Classic with
neighboring SUNY Canton. St. Lawrence will play SUNY Potsdam
and Wells on Friday, Sept. 29th and Elmira and SUNY Canton
on Saturday, Sept. 30th.
September 23:
Julia Wagner recorded a season-high 16 kills and senior
captain
Katie Kull added 45 assists as the St. Lawrence
University volleyball team defeated Union 3-2 after five
sets in Schenectady, New York for the Saints first Liberty
League win of the season. St. Lawrence also faced Kean
University in a non-league match and fell to the Cougars
3-0. Match 1 vs. Union – The Dutchwomen claimed the first
set of the day by a score of 25-21. However, the Saints
rebounded to claim the next two and hold a one set lead over
Union by scores of 25-14 and 25-20. Union took the fourth
set to draw the match at 2-2 by a score of 25-10 and force a
fifth set. St. Lawrence rallied in a back and forth battle
to secure the 15-12 win. Wagner led the Saints with 16
kills, while
Masha Kolesnikova recorded 13 and
Grace Kelly added 10. Kolesnikova and Kull recorded
three service aces each. "Our five-set victory over Union
was a win that took a lot of grit and heart by our team,"
said head coach
Shelly Roiger. "We did a great job of sustaining focus
and were very efficient in our offense. I'm proud of the
team for bouncing back with the win after a heartbreaker on
Friday night." St. Lawrence topped Union in kills (59-50),
aces (8-7) and digs (61-52). The Dutchwomen were led by
Stephanie Libonati with 14 kills, while Brianne Hallock
tallied 12 digs and Gillian Gore served four aces. Today's
win marks the first victory over Union for the Saints since
2014. Match 2 vs. Kean University – The Saints fell to the
Cougars after just three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-16 and
25-23. Kolesnikova led the Saints in their second match of
the day with eight kills, while Wagner and Kelly recorded
seven each. Kull added 10 digs for St. Lawrence and
Ally Good tallied 11. "Our fatigue definitely showed in
our match against Kean," Roiger continued. "They have a lot
of weapons from different positions and we had a hard time
getting touches on their attacks. We were on our heels the
entire match, and while we hung in there for the majority of
the three sets, we could never quite make the final push to
take the lead late in the second. Our primary objective in
the next few days will be to get rested and ready for a
battle at Clarkson on Wednesday." The Saints moved to 10-6
on the season and 1-1 in conference play after today's
results.