ITHACA, NY (November 3, 2017) – Despite 20 kills from junior hitter Devan Gallagher, the Vassar College women's volleyball team saw its quest for the program's seventh Liberty League title come to an end with a 3-1 loss to Clarkson University in action from Ben Light Gymnasium in the Hill Center on the campus of host Ithaca College.

With the win, Clarkson (20-7) will take on the winner of top-seeded Ithaca College and No. 4 seed Skidmore College. The Brewers (22-7) will now wait until Monday afternoon at 12:30 p.m., as the NCAA airs its Selection Show to see if it has qualified with a Pool C bid into the NCAA Tournament.

The Brewers fell behind early in the match, as they couldn't get much going offensively in the opening set with just six kills on 43 attempts. VC would get its attack going in the second though, taking a 17-12 lead in the second game after a kill from junior Lauren Ninkovich.

CU started to climb back into the set, posting a 4-0 capped by a termination by Rachel Reusch to tie the game at 19. The Golden Knights took a 23-21 edge after a kill form Maddie Bredehoeft, forcing a timeout by the Brewers. After the stoppage, VC tied the set at 23 and fended off a set point after an attack error by Jillian Saenz.

Vassar had its chances to end the set at 25-24 and 26-25, but Clarkson was able to keep the set going, deadlocking things at 26 after a block by Reusch. On the ensuing play, sophomore Colette Cambey posted a huge solo block on Reusch and VC claimed the set on a ball handling error the next point.

In the third set, Clarkson used a 4-0 run to take a 14-10 lead midway through the set but Vassar chalked up the next seven points thanks to four kills from Gallagher to make the score 17-14. Clarkson tied the set at 20 during a 3-0 run, taking a 21-20 lead on a kill by Gillian Kurtic. VC regained the lead at 22-21 on a kill from Ninkovich, but Clarkson got terminations from Kurtic and Reusch to take the third set.

Things would remain tight in the fourth set, as Vassar jumped out to a 5-2 lead thanks to two service aces and a pair of kills from Gallagher. The Golden Knights pushed back to take an 8-6 edge, and led 12-9 before Vassar used a 4-0 run to take a 13-12 lead after another kill from Ninkovich.

The set would stay very tight, as Gallagher tied things back up at 19 with another kill. After that, Clarkson tallied five of the matches' next six points to send the Golden Knights into the title game. Gallagher led all hitters with her 20 kills, finishing with 14 digs as well. Ninkovich tallied a career-high 15 kills, adding 11 kills and three aces, and freshman Anna Zucchero posted her second-best dig total of the season with 26.

Junior Annie MacMillan dished out 43 assists on the night, posting six digs as well, while junior Jorden Schreeder added nine digs and two aces. Cambey contributed seven kills and two solo block as well for VC, which hit .073 (47-34-177) for the match.

Clarkson was paced by Rachael Aird and her 14 kills, and Jillian Saenz posted 37 assists and 12 digs.