By ALEX HORTON
Sports Editor
The Golden Knights volleyball team took two tough losses against out-of-conference Clarion University and Daemen College, spoiling this season’s home opener.
The Knights lost to Clarion University 3-1 (14-25, 21-25, 25-22, 19-25) in a game where the stats did not tell the whole story. Saint Rose led in total attempts, 126 to Clarion’s 110, as well as leading in kills, 44 to 42. However, the tale of the game was errors. Even though Clarion had one fewer, Saint Rose had 22, and Clarion led in hitting percentage .191 to .175.
Maryellen Devic led the Golden Knights with 14 kills and eight digs, followed by Rachel Salasky with 10 kills and five digs. Senior Samantha Atchinson anchored the Knights defense with 14 digs, while Sam Kubik and Erica Ziskin aided in the offensive attack with 18 and 19 assists respectfully.
The first set was completely dominated by the Clarion Golden Eagles, who started the set on a 12-3 run. Saint Rose closed the game to 19-10, and after a Saint Rose timeout the Golden Eagles claimed the game before Saint Rose could muster more than four points.
Saint Rose put up a fight in the second set, but lost it 21-25. Saint Rose took the third set after tying the game nine times before taking a 20-16 lead after a Clarion timeout. Clarion brought the game to 21-20 in favor of Saint Rose, but the Knights put up four more points to take the third set 25-22. Clarion came out in the fourth set looking for the kill, starting out on a quick 11-5 run. The Golden Eagles ended up taking the set 25-19.
The Golden Knights lost the game against Daemen College in straight sets 0-3 (25-27, 19-25, 24-26). Saint Rose drops to 3-5 with the loss.
Rachel Salasky led the Golden Knights with 7 kills and one ace, followed by the efforts of Maryellen Devic with five kills, two aces, and six digs.
Saint Rose fought for their points and to keep themselves in the game. However, the stats tell the story. The Daemen Wildcats led in kills 38-24, hitting percentage .119 to Saint Roses’ .077, total attempts 101 to 91 and assists 37 to 23.
The first set was back and forth, and was tied three times late, at 17-17, 22-all and at the 25-25 mark a Saint Rose error and Damen kill gave the first of three to Daemen.
Saint Rose came out firing in the second set, going up 3-0 right off the bat. However, the Wildcats took the momentum from Saint Rose with a 6-0 run and kept running with it, taking the second set 25-19.
The third and final set of the match was hard-fought from the very first point and was a fluctuating battle. The score was tied up at 24-all, and a Daemen kill and service ace put the Golden Knights away for the win.
“I think that one thing we can take away from this weekend is that the teams that we will be playing in our conference for the rest of our season will be just as good as the teams we played this weekend. So we need to prepare ourselves to continue to play at a high level,” junior Maryellen Devic said.
The Golden Knights’ next game is away at LeMoyne College on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. They will not be back at home until Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m. against Adelphi University.
