The St. Lawrence University volleyball team fell in straight sets to its North Country rivals on Thursday evening in Burkman Gymnasium.

Katrina Henrich started the match with a service ace to earn the first point, but the next time the Saints had two consecutive serves, they already trailed Clarkson 16-4. A few points later, the Golden Knights went on their second seven-point run of the set to lead 24-8. The Scarlet and Brown responded as Vivian Zymeck recorded her second kill of the set to stop the run, but that only delayed Clarkson's 25-9 win.

Clarkson led 15-11 in the second set and used a five-point run to cushion their lead. They went on to take the set 25-15.

The Golden Knights were up 20-9 in the third set when the Saints used a timeout to slow the match down. St. Lawrence came out firing and scored five straight, including an ace from libero Lainey Roman sandwiched between kills from Rachel Boudreau. Clarkson then called a timeout of their own to stop the momentum. It worked, and they scored the final five points to take the third set 25-14.

Zymeck led the Saints' offense with five kills, and Boudreau, Jada Masiclat, and Giroux each had four. Lily Snide had 14 assists, and Mattie Porter had four.

Giroux had a team-high nine digs, Snide had seven and Roman had half a dozen to go with her two service aces.



Head coach Shelly Roiger
"Tonight was definitely not our night and Clarkson had a lot to do with that. We struggled with the pace of their offense the entire match and I'm disappointed that we weren't more purposeful and strong in our contacts, especially from a blocking standpoint. If I was looking for a silver lining, which I think it important to do in matches like this with such a young team, I thought we did play our best volleyball late in the third set which forced Clarkson to take a time out, so we'll take that little victory. Tonight was an eye opener for what it takes to compete against a top-caliber Liberty League opponent and I am confident that our newcomers will digest the match in a positive manner – one where the competitive hunger in practice will increase and complacency will not be an option."

Records: St. Lawrence (5-10, 1-2), Clarkson (6-7, 3-0)
Up next: RIT on Friday, October 7^th at 7 p.m.