CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion women's volleyball team topped the reigning PSAC Tournament champions with an inspired four-set effort on Senior Day, defeating Shippensburg 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-18, 30-28) at Tippin Gymnasium on Saturday.  The win helps the Golden Eagles (15-10, 9-4 PSAC) stay alive in their hunt for a spot in the PSAC Tournament as they gear up to take on Lock Haven and Pitt-Johnstown next weekend.
 
Mackenzie Biggs made the most of her Senior Day with a 15-kill performance, hitting .344 on the afternoon to go with four digs and a block against the Raiders.  Taylor Braunagel added 11 kills and Marissa Robertson had 10 to go with 20 digs for her sixth Kill-Dig double-double of the year.  Leah Vensel added 45 assists and Catherine Ferragonio had 25 digs, leading the Golden Eagles to a 90-82 edge in digs over Shippensburg.
 
For the second straight match Clarion excelled at the net, finishing with 9.0 team blocks compared to just 3.0 for Shippensburg.  They also notched seven service aces on Saturday, with Morgan Herold totaling a match-high four aces.
 
Clarion bounced back from a first set loss to thoroughly control the action in the next two frames, starting with a 25-19 win in the second set.  Herold aced Megan Forstburg to take an 11-7 lead and force Shippensburg into a timeout, and the senior came out of the timeout with a second consecutive ace off Forstburg.  Biggs made it 21-16 with a kill, and Lauryn Driscoll mopped things up in the second set with a kill at 25-19 to tie the overall match.
 
The Golden Eagles opened up an even bigger lead in the third set, going ahead 14-7 on an error by Gabriella Johnson and maintaining that distance throughout.  Braunagel made it 19-12 with a kill and Driscoll forced the Raiders into their second timeout of the set with a kill at 21-14.  Driscoll forced set point with a kill to make it 24-17 and Braunagel closed out the set with a solo block of Maura Nolan to make it 25-18.
 
Things played out much more tightly in the fourth set, with Shippensburg rallying and going on a 3-0 run to take a 24-21 lead and force set point.  A service error knotted things back up but the Raiders struck again, with Morgan DeFloria recording a kill.  Vensel and Olivia Olson responded with a block to tie it, and Biggs tied it at 28 with a kill.  Driscoll and Biggs combined to block Samantha Webber to make it 29-28 and force set point, and the duo of Driscoll and Robertson blocked Annie Goerl on match point to win it.