Junior Amanda Teppo, who ranks 17th nationally with 1.12 blocks per set, recorded three solo blocks and one block assist and first-year Natalie Piper led the St. Lawrence University volleyball team with 12 kills, but the Clarkson Golden Knights came from behind to top the Saints 3-1 in Liberty League play on Tuesday evening at Burkman Gymnasium.

St. Lawrence claimed the first set by a score of 25-21, but the Golden Knights went on to take the next three by scores of 25-17, 25-20 and 25-16.

Second to Piper, Grace Kelly recorded nine kills, while Teppo added six. Reagan Collier-Hogan recorded a career-best 22 kills, while Kelly added a season-high 20 and Piper added 19. Piper, Ally Good and Vivian Susko all recorded one service ace for the Saints, while Maddy Bishop and Good combined for 33 assists.

Clarkson opened the first set with a 6-3 lead over the Saints and improved that lead to 11-8 on a kill from Rachel Reusch. The Scarlet and Brown rallied on an 11-3 run to take the lead and eventually hold an 18-14 advantage. Mac Barnes increased the Saints' lead to 20-15 with a kill and Piper sealed the first-set win with an assist from Bishop.

In the second set, the Saints jumped out to a 6-4 lead and battled the Golden Knights point-for-point but Clarkson pulled ahead 14-11 after tying the set at nine. Clarkson posted a 5-1 run capped by an attacking error from Kelly to hold a 20-14 lead. Savannah Peters logged the final kill of the set for the 25-17 win.

St. Lawrence opened the third set on a 7-1 run and took an 11-3 lead with a kill from Kelly. The Golden Knights pushed back on a 9-2 run to bring the set within one point (15-14) and ended the set with four straight points for the 25-20 win.

In the final set, Clarkson climbed to a 10-5 lead, but the Saints looked for a comeback bringing the set within one multiple times, but a 9-2 run gave the Golden Knights a 24-15 advantage and Maddie Bredehoeft closed the match with a kill.



"We had a great start to the match," said head coach Shelly Roiger. "I thought our aggressiveness and execution was excellent and our defense led to some productive offense. Clarkson stepped up their service game and we did not respond well. They had us out of system for most of the second set and we struggled to find holes. I thought they played excellent defensively and Reusch demonstrated why she's one of the best in the conference."

"I'm very proud of how hard we played," Roiger continued. "I thought the team worked their butt off tonight, we won a lot of long rallies, but we just couldn't put the ball down when we needed to. This team is capable of tremendous things and we are much better than our 0-3 conference record is showing. We'll take a much needed day off tomorrow and then get back at it on Thursday in preparation for another tough showdown at Vassar on Friday."

Clarkson was led by Reusch with 20 kills, while Bredehoeft added 13 and Peters tallied eight. Reusch also recorded six blocks, while Kate Isaksen posted a team-best 33 digs.

With the loss, the Saints fell to 12-6 on the season and 0-3 in conference play, while the Golden Knights improved to 8-7 and 1-2.

St. Lawrence will hit the road for a pair of Liberty League matches this weekend. The Saints take on Vassar on Friday, October 5 at 7 p.m. in Poughkeepsie, New York and Bard on Saturday, October 6 at 2 p.m. in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.