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Clarkson University Athletics

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Freshman Tara Stilwell had 30 digs in eight sets on Tuesday. - Photo by Gary Mikel

Women's Volleyball September 1, 2015

Knights Sweep at Tri-Match in Cortland

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Cortland, NY - Senior Aishvina Arasu drilled 28 kills in the course of two matches as the 13th-ranked Clarkson University Volleyball team picked up a come-from-behind win against Cortland State in five sets and followed that up with a three-set sweep of Houghton College on Tuesday afternoon.

The Golden Knights (2-0) took down the Red Dragons in the opener 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-13, 15-12 and then settled in for a sweep of Houghton 25-13, 25-19, 25-16.

"Starting your season against a good team full of returners didn't seem like it would be easy and it sure wasn't," Clarkson head coach Johan Dulfer remarked. "We knew we would need some time to get our crew of first-year starters acclimated to the college game, but in the end going to five sets was probably the best thing to happen to us this early. I hope we learned that we can't rely on talent alone. We have talent, but to win we will have to learn to play with purpose and togetherness all the time, not just some of the time. We are going to have a steep learning curve and we will lose some matches along the way, but it's hard not to be excited about the potential of this group."

In 2014, Clarkson didn't lose two sets to teams from the New York Region until October 17th, but on Tuesday the Golden Knights found themselves down 2-1 after just three sets because of miscues, including eight hitting errors in the third set alone. The Knights rallied back for a dominating effort in the fourth set, but needed several rallying points in the fifth set. In the final game, Clarkson trailed 8-3, 11-7, and 12-10. A block from Rachael Aird and an ace by Kirstie Shurie tied the set up at 12-12, and a key kill from Victoria Kirkemo made in 14-12 as the Knights showed some resolve to gain the win. 

Arasu delivered 17 kills with just three errors in 36 swings while Aird enjoyed a hitting percentage of .400 with 15 kills and four total blocks as well as two aces. Sierra Rhoades produced 12 kills and a pair of aces while Shurie had 49 assists, 10 digs and a pair of aces. Freshman libero Tara Stilwell started her collegiate career with 18 digs, four assists and a pair of aces. Though Cortland played well, the Red Dragons effort was helped by 50 total mistakes by the Knights, including 25 attack errors and 13 service errors.

In the second set, Clarkson appeared to right the ship in its sweep of Houghton. Using several large runs at key times in each set, the Golden Knights had little trouble in earning their second win in as many matches on the day. Arasu was even more efficient in the second match of the day as she hit .417 on 11 kills with just one error in 24 swings. Victoria Kirkemo and Lauren Hutchinson each tossed in nine kills while freshman Savannah Peters produced a hitting percentage of .400 on seven kills and an error in 15 attempts to go along with two aces. Aird was also very efficient with six kills and only one error in 11 swings and added in two more blocks. Stilwell contributed 12 more digs and Shurie led the offense on 36 assists.  

 
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Players Mentioned

Rachael Aird

#10 Rachael Aird

OH/MH/RS
6' 0"
Sophomore
Aishvina Arasu

#5 Aishvina Arasu

OH
5' 10"
Senior
Lauren Hutchinson

#4 Lauren Hutchinson

OH/RS
5' 9"
Senior
Victoria Kirkemo

#6 Victoria Kirkemo

OH
5' 9"
Senior
Sierra Rhoades

#8 Sierra Rhoades

OH
5' 9"
Junior
Kirstie Shurie

#17 Kirstie Shurie

S/L
5' 5"
Senior
Tara Stilwell

#12 Tara Stilwell

DS
5' 9"
Freshman
Savannah Peters

#16 Savannah Peters

MH
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Rachael Aird

#10 Rachael Aird

6' 0"
Sophomore
OH/MH/RS
Aishvina Arasu

#5 Aishvina Arasu

5' 10"
Senior
OH
Lauren Hutchinson

#4 Lauren Hutchinson

5' 9"
Senior
OH/RS
Victoria Kirkemo

#6 Victoria Kirkemo

5' 9"
Senior
OH
Sierra Rhoades

#8 Sierra Rhoades

5' 9"
Junior
OH
Kirstie Shurie

#17 Kirstie Shurie

5' 5"
Senior
S/L
Tara Stilwell

#12 Tara Stilwell

5' 9"
Freshman
DS
Savannah Peters

#16 Savannah Peters

5' 11"
Freshman
MH