CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion University women's volleyball team rallied from a two sets to one deficit to defeat Gannon 3-2 Friday night at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
"I'm super excited about how motivated they were to go out there", said Clarion head coach Jennifer Mills on how her team bounced back in the fourth and fifth sets.  "Gannon is an unbelievable team.  They were abusing us in the middle and it took us until the fourth and fifth sets to make the adjustments."
 
The set scores were 22-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-14, and 15-10 respectively.
 
Late in the third set, Clarion led 24-21 and had three set points.  The Golden Knights tallied five straight points to win the set and gain all of the momentum heading to the fourth set leading 2-1. 
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out to 17-9 lead in the fourth set and never looked back.  Clarion won the set 25-14 and took the match to a fifth and final set. 
 
In the fifth set, Gannon jumped out to a 6-3 lead which forced the Golden Eagles to use a timeout.  Back-to-back errors from the Golden Knights and then a kill from Mackenzie Biggs tied the match at six. After both teams exchanged leads, the score was tied at nine.  Clarion won six of the next seven points to secure the victory.
 
Morgan Seybold led the Golden Eagles with 37 digs to lead the Golden Eagle defense.
 
"I'm proud of her," said Mills.  "You could see some nerves early on and I think once she settled down she got consistent."
 
Senior Carlie Bieranowski had 18 kills and nine digs while Biggs added 16 kills to power the Clarion offense.  Freshman Taylor Braunagel added 11 kills.  Senior setter Laura Subject finished with 56 assists in the match to go along with 22 digs while also adding three kills.  Catherine Ferragonio had 16 digs while Mattison Thornton chipped in with 10 to lead the Eagles defense.   
 
 "It was huge," said Mills of Bieranowski and Biggs who combined for 34 kills in the match.  "Carlie had a great night.  She was finding the line early on and she was not making a ton of bad decisions.  I'm really proud of her."
 
In a battle of two of the top three teams in the PSAC West, the Golden Eagles improve to 15-1 overall, 7-1 in the PSAC West as Gannon drops to 13-2, 6-2.  Clarion is now alone at the top of the West standings.
 
Hannah Kren led the Golden Knights with 18 kills while Emily Carver added 12. Gannon setter Megan Wendel finished with 56 assists while Taryn Graham added 30 digs.
 
In the opening set, the Golden Knights led the entire way. The Golden Eagles got within one, 22-21, but Gannon closed out the opening set 25-22. 
 
In the second frame, Clarion saved a pair of set points at 25-24 and 26-25 before closing out the second 28-26.
 
The Golden Eagles held Gannon to a .126 hitting percentage while forcing 35 errors.  Gabrielle Olson, who finished with eight kills, hit .261 in the match (8-2-23). 
 
Clarion returns to action on Saturday for a 1 p.m. start at home vs. PSAC West opponent Mercyhurst, who is tied with four other teams for second place at 6-2.  This weekend, Clarion is hosting its annual Breast Cancer Awareness matches with all money raised going to support The Cancer Center at Clarion Hospital.  For more information contact Mills at jmills@clarion.edu or you can reach her at 814-393-1987.
 
Story by Jonathan Hooke