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Pretty In Pink! Saints Defeat Golden Knights 3-2
Story Courtesy of the St. Lawrence Athletics Site
Oct. 19: The St. Lawrence University volleyball team defeated arch rival Clarkson University 3-2 in thrilling fashion on Tuesday evening at the Burkman Gymnasium. The Saints claimed the win in front of a record-setting crowd of 842 fans, the majority of which were wearing pink in honor of the "Dig Pink" event.
The victory avenges a 3-0 loss to Clarkson earlier in the season. The volleyball attendance of 842 shattered the previous attendance mark set last season against the Golden Knights. St. Lawrence moves to 16-7 on the season behind the 22-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-18, 15-12 win, while Clarkson falls to 18-6.
"The fans in attendance tonight created an incredible atmosphere for a great volleyball match," said Saints head coach Shelly Roiger. "Our seniors delivered a clutch performance and our team played sound defense at the net all night."
Leading the Saints was junior Nyasha Miller, who tallied 16 kills, 29 digs and two service aces. Liz Grogan, also a junior, added 16 kills and four assisted blocks. Senior Lauren Drozynski contributed 12 kills, three assisted blocks and a solo block, while classmate Abby Rose recorded game-high 44 assists, as well as 26 digs. Senior Jordyn Buzza, who was instrumental in orchestrating the "Dig Pink" event, contributed six kills and 15 digs.
Also holding down the Saint defense was junior Katherine Pierce and first-year student Katie Prue with 22 digs each, while junior Marta Johann provided a spark at the net with 6 assisted block, a huge solo block and six kills.
The intense five-set match began with a Clarkson win in game one by the score of 25-22, but the Scarlet and Brown responded in style with a 25-19 win in game two.
The third game was a back-and-forth battle that saw a largest lead of two points at 17-15 in favor of St. Lawrence. However, Clarkson's Megan Mahon curbed the momentum and helped the Knights pull even at 23-23. An error by St. Lawrence was followed by a kill by senior Lauren Drozynski to bring the score to 24-24. The Golden Knights would seal the game three victory behind kills from Sara Artus and Nicole Edwards, 26-24, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
St. Lawrence once again answered the call in game four as they capitalized on several Clarkson errors and got solid play by junior Liz Grogan to build a 19-16 advantage. The home team then used a 6-2 run to close out the game 25-18 and force a deciding fifth game.
Neither team was able to pull away in the early going, with Clarkson holding an 8-7 lead at the crossover. St. Lawrence pulled even at 9-9 then got back-to-back kills from Miller to take an 11-9 cushion.
An error by Clarkson and an ace by senior captain Abby Rose pulled St. Lawrence to within two points of victory at 13-9. The Saints were able to celebrate on their home court thanks to kills in the middle by Johann and Grogan to close out the Knights 15-12.
The Saints will travel to Saratoga Springs, NY this weekend to take part in the Skidmore College Classic. They battle Cazenovia college on Friday, October 22 at 6:00pm.
