SALEM, Mass. – The Clark University volleyball team (4-4) stayed on the road with a trip to Salem State (0-8) on Thursday night. It was a battle, with the Vikings taking sets one and three and the Cougars taking two and four to set up a winner-take-all fifth set. Clark narrowly edged Salem State with a 16-14 win in the final set for a 3-2 victory.
How it Happened
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The Cougars scored the first four points of the match behind a pair of service aces from senior Julia Dopazo. However, the Vikings responded with four straight points of their own to tie the set.
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The lead flipped numerous times over the next few points, with kills by sophomore Ashlyn Moquin, junior Abigail Venis, and junior Isabella Alcott fueling the Clark offense.
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With the opening set tied at 19, Salem State went on a five-point run to reach set point. Clark battled back, winning four straight points but falling just short as the set ended 25-23 in favor of the Vikings.
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Following a 3-0 start to the second set by Salem State, the Cougars responded with a 9-2 run sparked by kills from senior Winifred Gakidis, Moquin, and senior Harper Chinn.
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After the Vikings tied things up at 11, Clark went on a seven-point run to pull away, sparked by a pair of service aces from Alcott and a kill from Venis.
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Salem State again pulled even at 22, but the Cougars held on with three straight points to take the set 25-22 behind kills from Gakidis and Alcott.
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Kills from Moquin, Gakidis, and Venis, as well as service aces from Dopazo, Chinn, and junior Hannah Harrington, helped Clark to an early 11-6 edge in the third set.
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Three straight kills from Gakidis, senior Katelyn Williams, and Alcott made it 14-10 later in the set, but another Salem State run tied the match at 18-all.
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With the score at 22-20 in favor of Salem State, the Cougars rallied to pull ahead 23-22, but the momentum ended there as the Vikings secured three straight points to take the third set 25-23.
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A 6-0 run started the fourth set on the right foot for Clark, with a kill by Harrington and a pair of service aces from Dopazo setting the tone early.
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The Cougars nursed the lead over the rest of the set, with five late kills from Alcott helping Clark finalize the 25-19 fourth-set win.
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Following an 8-4 run to start the final set for the Vikings, Clark battled back, tying the game at 11-all following kills from Alcott, Venis, and a pair of kills from Moquin.
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The game remained tight, with two big kills from Williams setting up a Gakidis kill to tie the game at 14-all. Gakidis came up big again with the kill for match point and a 16-14 win in set five, giving Clark the 3-2 victory.
Inside the Box Score
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The Cougars recorded 49 kills off 43 assists, adding 100 digs in the effort. They recorded 14 service aces and five blocks as well.
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Dopazo had an unbelievable night with 29 assists and seven service aces, both career-bests for the senior setter.
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Alcott ended with 16 kills, the fourth time this season she has reached double-digit kills in a game. She added eight digs as well defensively and two service aces.
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Gakidis added nine kills on only 19 swings, also adding two blocks at the net.
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Williams had a stellar game defensively with 32 digs, 12 more than her previous career-best set earlier this season. It is her fifth straight game with double-digit digs.
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Chinn added 23 digs, her seventh game this season with double-digit digs.
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Venis ended with a career-best eight kills and three blocks, with Moquin adding six kills and a career-best 15 digs in the effort.
What's Next
The Scarlet and White open NEWMAC play with a trip south to Salve Regina next Tuesday, with first serve set for 7:00 PM.
