Box Score Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-- The Skidmore College women's volleyball team is back in the Liberty League championship match with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-18) win over RIT in the league semifinals played Friday night at the Williamson Sports Center.  They will face off against Clarkson after the Golden Knights defeated Vassar 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13) in the other semifinal.
 
The top-seeded Thoroughbreds will face #2 Clarkson in Saturday's championship match at 4 p.m., a rematch of last year's final.
 
Skidmore improves to 26-6 and completes a 3-0 season sweep of the Tigers who end the year at 26-15.
 
Liberty League Player of the Year Corinne Palmer led the Thoroughbreds with 10 kills, four blocks and a .474 hitting percentage.  Carolyn Bottelier added eight kills and nine digs, while Sam Friedman had 19 digs. Mallory Mendelsohn contributed 29 assists and eight digs.
 
For RIT, setter Christina Worth had 24 assists and six digs. Katie Cooper had nine kills seven digs and two aces.
 
In the first set, Skidmore broke open a 7-7 tie with a 9-4 run to take a 16-11 lead that stretched to as many as eight before the 25-18 final. Palmer had six kills, while Friedman had eight of her 19 digs to settle the Thoroughbreds defensivley. 
 
The Tigers hung in early in the second with the score tied 14-14 before Mendelsohn served four straight points, capped by a powerful kill by Elise Finnerty to break it open for the Thoroughbreds.
 
Down 11-7 in the third set , Skidmore rallied again out scoring RIT 14-3, including a 4-0 and 5-0 runs to pull away for the 25-18 win. Friedman had five digs, while Bottelier added four digs and four kills.

The Golden Knights improve to 27-6 after being down 2-1 to the Brewers, who finish the season at 20-11.

Liberty League Rookie of the Year Victoria Kirkemo led the way for Clarkson, finishing with 17 kills and 12 digs.  Adrienne Walker and Aishvina Arasu added 14 kills apiece, while Lani Durio tallied a double-double with 50 assists and 10 digs to go along with 29 digs and three service aces.

Chloe McGuire totaled 17 digs, 15 kills and four blocks to lead Vassar.  Jessie Ditmore tallied a double-double with 20 digs and 12 kills, while Taylor Mosley had 13 kills at a .524 hitting percentage.  Hilary Koenigs added 54 assists and Chloe Hallum finished with 29 digs.

In the opening set, neither team was able to grab a lead of more than three before the Golden Knights were able to close it out with back-to-back kills from A. Walker.  The teams continued to go back and forth in the second set but the Brewers scored six of the final seven points to even up the match at 1-1.

The third set was much of the same for both squads as Vassar held a 19-18 lead and again pulled away scoring six of the final seven points.  The fourth set belonged to Clarkson leading by as many as six after a Bailey Walker kill made it 18-12.  The Brewers managed to get within two at 23-21 but a pair of kills from Kirkemo gave the Golden Knights the set.

In the fifth and final set, Clarkson raced out to a 9-1 lead, but Vassar wouldn't quit getting within one at 14-13 but could not complete the comeback as the Golden Knights held on for the win.