Volleyball | 11/10/2014 5:01:00 PM

CLARION, Pa. – With a second straight PSAC West title in its pocket, the Clarion University women's volleyball team starts its quest for a PSAC Championship when it hosts California (Pa.) in the first round of the PSAC Tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Tippin Gym.
 
The match has been declared a Tippin Gym White Out with all fans asked to wear white in support of the Golden Eagles, and the first 200 Clarion University students with a valid ID will get a free t-shirt.
 
"Our kids love playing in Tippin," Clarion's eighth-year head coach Jennifer Mills said. "It feels like the crowd is right on top of you. That is one of the great things about our gym. It's definitely an advantage for us. I'm anticipating a lot of people, and hopefully it will help us through the match."
 
The home-court advantage could be just the thing that could sway a match between two very evenly matched teams.
 
Even though the Golden Eagles are the top seed from the PSAC West with a record of 29-3 overall and 20-2 in conference play, they aren't taking the Vulcans (25-8, 17-5) lightly considering Cal has given Clarion everything it can handle this year. The teams split the regular-season contests with each winning on the other team's home court. Cal took a 3-0 victory in Tippin Gym, and Clarion returned the favor with a 3-2 win in California in a match that saw the Golden Eagles rally from a two-set deficit and win the final two sets by scores for 31-29 and 23-21.
 
"They are a great team," Mills said. "They are the best blocking team in the PSAC. There is a reason they were picked first in the pre-season coaches' poll, and they are playing their best volleyball of the season right now. But we are playing well too. I'm excited about the match."
 
According to Mills, in order for the Golden Eagles to be successful they need to focus on the areas they have focused on all season.
 
"We need to take care of our side of the court and be prepared for long rallies," Mills said. "We also don't want to take any points off, and we want consistent play. These are no different than what we've been emphasizing all season."
 
The match will have great players on both sides of the net starting with Clarion senior setter Laura Subject, the reigning PSAC West Athlete of the Year.
 
Subject is having another superb season for the Golden Eagles averaging a PSAC-leading 11.43 set assists per set while adding 2.63 digs per set.
 
Subject is a key reason why Clarion ranks third in the PSAC in hitting percentage (1,577 kills, 599 errors, 4,381 attempts) and has five hitters averaging at least two kills per set.
 
The Golden Eagles have three players in the top 13 in the conference in hitting percentage led by freshman middle hitter Gabrielle Olson, who ranks fifth in the conference at .318. Olson averages 2.08 kills per set and also ranks 17^th in the conference with 0.83 blocks per set.
 
Junior Abbey Cox is sixth in the conference in hitting percentage at .306, averages 2.08 kills per set and adds 0.75 blocks per set, which ranks 15^th in the PSAC.
 
Sophomore right-side hitter Mackenzie Biggs is 13^th in the PSAC in hitting percentage (.280) and ranks second on the team with 2.46 kills per set while adding 0.65 digs per set.
 
The offense is led by freshman outside hitter Taylor Braunagel, who leads the team and ranks sixth in the PSAC with 3.10 kills per set.
 
Also for the Golden Eagles offense a pair of players who have spent time at both outside hitter and defensive specialist give Clarion a well-rounded attack.
 
Senior Carlie Bieranowski averages 2.45 kills per set and 2.84 digs per set, while freshman Catherine Ferragonio adds 3.19 digs per set, which is the 22^nd-best mark in the conference, while adding 0.87 kills per set. Since she started seeing time as an outside hitter in mid-October, she averages 1.9 kills per set including a 12-kill performance in the win at Cal.
 
Defensively, junior Libero Morgan Seybold leads the PSAC in digs for the second consecutive year with 6.38, while sophomore defensive specialist Mattison Thornton (1.89 digs per set) has also played a key role.  
 
Clarion's offense will be challenged by a Cal defense that leads the PSAC in opponent hitting percentage at .108 (1,343-822-4,837) one of the top marks in the nation.
 
Leading the Vulcan defense at the net are Miranda Fouzie and Danielle Hayes. Fouzie ranks second in the PSAC in blocks with 1.18 per set, and Hayes is fifth in the conference with 1.02 blocks per set. Mary Lavery adds 0.78 blocks per set, which ranks 24^th in the PSAC. Samantha Rudy paces the backline defense averaging 4.53 digs per set which is the 10^th-best mark in the conference.
 
Offensively, Cal looks to Laurel Miller, Hayes, Fouzie and Lavery.
 
Miller sits fourth in the PSAC in kills per set with 3.37, while Hayes is seventh in hitting percentage at .306 while averaging 2.2 kills per set and Fouzie is 14^th in hitting percentage at .267 while averaging 1.72 kills per set. Lavery chips in a .226 hitting percentage with 2.0 kills per set. Miller also ranks 21^st in the PSAC in digs per set with 3.20.
 
The winner of the match will play the winner of the PSAC East quarterfinal match between defending PSAC Champion Pitt-Johnstown, the second seed from the East, and West Chester, the third seed from the East, in the semifinals Saturday at a time and place to be determined. If Clarion wins, the PSAC semifinals as well as Sunday's championship match, will be played in Tippin Gym. If Cal wins, the semifinals and championship will be at the winner of the Seton Hill/Gannon match.
 
NOTES – Cost to attend the match is free to any student of a PSAC Instituation with an ID otherwise its $7 for adults and $2 for students ... Clarion is looking for its first PSAC Championship since 2010 and the third in school history (the Golden Eagles also won the title in 1988) … It's the 21^st time Clarion has reached the volleyball postseason and the 14^th time the Golden Eagles have qualified for the PSAC Tournament … Clarion is 35-34 in 69 postseason matches and 12-13 in 25 PSAC playoff matches … The Golden Eagles are also 10-3 in postseason play at home including 4-1 in PSAC action with the lone loss coming last season, 3-1, to Gannon in the PSAC first round … Clarion's PSAC West title this season is the third in school history and the third in the past five seasons with the Golden Eagles also taking home titles in 2010 and 2013 … This marks the 11^th all-time postseason meeting between Clarion and California with Clarion winning seven of the first 10 but Cal winning the last two including in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region semifinals last year, 3-0, and in the PSAC first round in 2012, 3-1, at California … Clarion's last postseason win over the Vulcans came in 2010 when the Golden Eagles took home their first Atlantic Region title with a 3-0 win at Edinboro … Cal also beat Clarion 3-0 in the 2007 PSAC Title game in Mills' first season … This is the first time since the 1988 PSAC West Tournament that Clarion has faced Cal at home in the postseason. That year, the Golden Eagles dispatched the Vulcans 3-0.