CLARION, Pa. – Fresh off wining its second PSAC West title in four seasons, the Clarion University women's volleyball team will host Gannon at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a PSAC West Playoff match.
 
The match, which is Clarion's first postseason home match since 2010, is a Blue Out with all Golden Eagle fans being asked to wear blue to the match. The first 50 Clarion University students with a valid Clarion ID will receive a t-shirt.
 
"I'm hoping for a big crowd that is fun and loud," Clarion's seventh-year head coach Jennifer Mills said. "We've been very fortunate to have a loyal fan following all season. I have been humbled by the community support, and I expect that won't change for Tuesday's match."
 
The cost of the match is free to Clarion University and other PSAC-member school students with a valid ID, $7 for adults and $2 for students without a valid Clarion or PSAC-member school ID. The only passes excepted will be PSAC passes.
 
Clarion finished the regular season 31-3 overall and 20-2 in the PSAC West. The Golden Eagles, who tied the 2002 team for the school record for regular-season wins (the 2010 team holds the school-win record with 32), enter the postseason having won 17 of 19 and secured the PSAC West title, the second in school history, on the final day of the regular season Saturday when they beat Slippery Rock 3-0 and California lost at Gannon.
 
"I think winning the PSAC West Title is a great testament to how hard the girls have worked," said Mills, who is Clarion's all-time winningest coach with a career mark of 176-64. "Every match we play in conference is a challenge, and there is so much equality in the teams, so wins are tough to come by.
 
"I think the key to our success this year has been the team dynamic and the ability to grind it out. We've had so many close matches that really could have gone either way, and we were put into some tough situations. The team really worked hard to prevail, and I'm sure Tuesday won't be any easier."
 
Gannon (19-12, 14-8), the defending PSAC Champion, is no stranger to Clarion, as this will be the teams' third meeting of the year and the second time they have faced each other in 11 days. Clarion beat Gannon 3-1 in the other two meetings winning by scores of 20-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-23 Oct. 12 at Gannon and by tallies of 25-23, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-19 Nov. 8 at Tippin Gym.
 
"They are a very well coached, physical team," Mills said. "They are on a win streak now (three straight) and have gained confidence by beating both California and Seton Hill. I'm expecting them to show up ready to play and expecting to win. Confidence goes a long way, so we expect a tough, hard-fought match from both teams."
 
The key matchup could be Clarion's PSAC-leading defense against a strong Gannon offense.
 
Clarion holds opponents to a PSAC-low 9.56 kills per set and a conference-low .110 attack percentage.
 
Gannon's offense, though, ranks third in the PSAC in kills per set (12.35) and sixth in hitting percentage (.197).
 
The Golden Eagles strength on defense comes from its PSAC-leading 17.90 digs per set.
 
Sophomore Libero Morgan Seybold is a big reason for that, as she leads the conference with 6.22 digs per set.
 
But Seybold gets plenty of help from senior outside hitter Emily Stewart (3.09; 362), junior setter Laura Subject 2.8; 339), junior outside hitter Carlie Bieranowski (2.19) and senior defensive specialist Lauren Magalski (1.97).
 
Clarion can also throw up a block thanks to senior right-side hitter Hannah Heeter (0.76 per set; 91 total), senior middle hitter Corinne Manley (0.75; 89 total), freshman Kelly Shannon (0.75; 50 total) and sophomore Abbey Cox (0.66; 42 total).
 
That defense will be challenged by a Gannon offense led by Hannah Kren, who ranks fifth in the PSAC in kills per set with 3.43.
 
And although Kren is the only Golden Knight with at least two kills per set, the real strength of the Gannon attack lies in its diversity. Five additional players average between 1.6 and 1.9 kills per set with Emily Carver on the high end at 1.91 followed by Jordyn Thiery (1.9) and Kayla Knickerbocker (1.88).
 
Megan Wendel runs the offense with 9.88 set assists per set.
 
While Clarion's defense and Gannon's offense appear to be evenly matched, the Golden Eagles could have an advantage on offense as they lead the PSAC in kills per set (13.77) and rank second in hitting (.222). Gannon's defense is more middle of the road ranking ninth in both opponents' kills per set (11) and hitting percentage (.140). 
 
One of the strengths of Clarion's offense has been its diversity with three players averaging at least two kills per set and a fourth just shy of two.
 
That is a testament to Subject, who has been the PSAC West Player of the Week on four separate occasions this year, the first Golden Eagle volleyball player to earn the award more than twice in a season.
 
Subject leads the PSAC and ranks 16th in the NCAA Division II in set assists per set with 11.20. She has recorded 1,355 set assists this season and is adding 28 blocks and 69 kills.
 
Stewart leads the Golden Eagles in kills with 3.79 per set (443 total), which is the top mark in the PSAC West and second in the conference while raking 30th nationally.
 
Bieranowski is adding 3.03 kills per set (342), which ranks seventh in the PSAC, while Heeter averages 2.64 kills pert set (314) and is hitting .315 (314 kills, 87 errors, 720 attempts) the fifth-best mark in the PSAC.
 
Manley is the team leader in hitting percentage and ranks second in the PSAC at .321 (220-56-511) while averaging 1.85 kills per set.
 
NOTES – The winner of Tuesday's match plays the winner of the Lock Haven at Pitt-Johnstown match in the semifinals Friday at the highest remaining seed from the PSAC East. Lock Haven is the No. 3 seed in the East with Pitt-Johnstown the No. 2 seed. Shippensburg is the top East seed and hosts fourth-seeded Millersville Tuesday. In the West, No. 2 seeded California hosts No. 3 Seton Hill with the winner playing the Millersville-Shippensburg winner in the other semifinal. The championship match will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the same site as the semifinals and will be broadcast live on PCN … Clarion lost in the opening round of the PSAC Playoffs last year 3-1 at California but rebounded to beat Lock Haven in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament before losing to Wheeling Jesuit in the Round of 32 … Clarion's loss to Cal last year broke a string of three straight PSAC Semifinal appearances for the Golden Eagles, who have been to the PSAC semifinals four times under Mills (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011) making it to the title game in both 2007 (lost 3-0 to Cal) and 2010 (beat Edinboro 3-1 at Tippin Gym) … Clarion is ranked third in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region and should be a lock for a school-record fifth straight NCAA Division II playoff appearance. It would be Clarion's 10th NCAA berth in the past 12 years. The Golden Eagles won the NCAA D-II Atlantic Region title in 2010 for the first time in school history and advanced to the NCAA D-II Elite Eight for the first time in school history. That season, Clarion also won its second PSAC title (the Golden Eagles also won in 1988).