GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 sweep of Clarkson this evening to open Liberty League play in Bristol Gymnasium, extending its win streak to five straight. With the win, the Herons improve to 11-1 overall with a 1-0 mark in conference play, while the Golden Knights fall to 6-7 overall and 0-1 in the Liberty League.
 
William Smith put on a dominant performance in the sweep, leading Clarkson in several statistical categories. The Herons put down 41 kills as a team, hitting a collective .302 hitting percentage, while the Golden Knights tallied 22 kills on a .035 hitting percentage. William Smith held a 5-4 advantage in service aces as well as a 4-3 edge in blocks in the conference win. The Herons recorded 36 digs as a team, while the Golden Knights tallied 31.
 
Senior outside Malya Sayre led William Smith with 16 kills, hitting .294 in the sweep. She added six digs, two solo blocks and an assist for the Herons. Sophomores Arielle Newsome (.667) and Emily Fulton (.300) tallied eight kills each in the win and combined for nine digs, one service ace and one block.
 
Grace Hanson led the Golden Knights with seven kills (.105). Ashley Currier tallied a team-high 18 assists in the loss.

MATCH MOMENTS:

• William Smith came out firing in the opening set, putting down 13 kills (.407) as a team, while allowing Clarkson to a match-low five kills (-.083). The Herons jumped out to a 16-2 lead after a strong service run from Delainy Williams and never looked back. They closed out the opening set on top 25-10.
• The Herons continued on their momentum into the second set, putting down 12 kills (.400) compared to the Golden Knights' eight (.037). Again, William Smith jumped out to a big lead early and never let up. Two Clarkson errors handed the Herons a 25-14 win in set two.
• William Smith closed out the sweep with a dominating 16 kill (.182) performance in the final set. A big kill by senior Jaylynn McCarthy closed out the sweep with a 25-21 win in set three.

MATCH STATS:

• Sayre paced the Herons with 16 kills (.294), while Newsome (.667) and Fulton (.300) added eight kills each in the win. Senior Hope Von Dohlen chipped in five kills (.625), while McCarthy added three in the sweep.
• Sophomore setter Delainy Williams recorded a match-high 35 assists in the sweep. She added five digs, three service aces and one kill (.167) to lead William Smith to victory.
• The Herons combined for 36 digs as a team and were led by Fulton with nine. Sophomore libero Kali Vanderhoof chipped in eight digs, while Sayre added six.
• William Smith continued to impress at the service line and combined for five aces as a team. Williams led the way with three, while Vanderhoof and Fulton added one ace each in the win.
• The Green and White showed strong at the net and combined for four blocks in the sweep. Sayre led with two solo blocks, while Von Dohlen and Newsome added one block each for William Smith.

COACHES CORNER:

"Starting off conference with a win is always a good feeling!" said Head Coach Derryk Williams. "We did a great job of staying consistent and playing our style tonight. Ari has been unstoppable as of late and continued that tonight with 8 kills on 12 swings and no errors. We need to recover and get ready for SLU tomorrow with another conference matchup."

UP NEXT:
 
William Smith will be back in action tomorrow when it welcomes St. Lawrence for a Liberty League matchup. Action between the Herons and the Saints is set for 2 p.m. in Bristol Gymnasium.