Shaking off the jitters in the opening set, the Clarkson University rallied to take a four-set victory over Hunter College in the opening round of the NCAA New York Regional Championship, claiming the win 25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 25-7 Friday evening at New York University's Coles Sports Center.

The Golden Knights (28-9), seeded fourth at the regional, will face the winner of Westfield State College and New York University at 7:00 pm on Saturday.

Hunter, the fifth seed, finished its season with a record of 17-18.

Clarkson, appearing in its second straight NCAA Tournament after a 34-year drought at the start of the program's existence, began the match tight as Hunter's Kim Hirten began with six straight points, pushing the Knights into an early deficit that appeared to be too much to overcome. The same margin existed midway through the set, as the Hawks were up 18-12, but Clarkson rallied to take 13 of the final 15 points.

Set two was a back-and-forth affair as neither team was able to gain much of an advantage. A key point went to the Hawks when they led by just a single point (23-22) as Christine Luebcke scored a kill for the two-point edge, a lead that Hunter did not relinquish.

The third set looked like it would be a carbon copy of the second as neither team could gain much of an advantage. But, midway through the match, Clarkson's offense began to assert itself, and accompanied by some Hunter errors, the Knights were able to push out to a 22-13 edge, closing out the set with a seven-point edge.

In the fourth set, Hunter appeared to be tired from its defensive efforts in the first three sets. Coupled with Clarkson's varied offensive maneuvers, the Knights eased to a quick 25-7 victory.

Clarkson's Sara Artus proved why she was picked for AVCA's New York All-Region squad, as she punished 20 kills in the four sets and added a pair of block assists. Megan Mahon added 12 kills, while Courtney Haines made 11 kills against just one error in 22 swings. Lani Durio came within two assists of her career-high, posting 54 in the match. Four Knights recorded double-figures for digs, led by Alison Schroeder's 30.

For Hunter, Luebcke posted a team-best 16 kills while Mallory Grubler had four blocks and eight kills. Katina Boutis had 27 assists, and the feisty Hunter defense saw six players record double-digs digs, led by Mary Grace Vergara's 24.