CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion volleyball team dominated its second PSAC opponent in as many days, with the Golden Eagles claiming a 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-19) decision over the Kutztown Golden Bears at Tippin Gymnasium on Saturday.
 
The Golden Eagles (7-6, 2-0 PSAC) have now won five of their last seven matches and are 2-0 to start PSAC play for the eighth straight season.
 
Clarion was deadly efficient in dispatching Kutztown on Saturday, hitting .350 and never allowing the Golden Bears to top 20 points in a set.  They out-dug Kutztown by a 48-24 margin and posted 53 kills to their opponents' 22 tallies.  Taylor Braunagel was among the best on the court, recording 15 kills on 22 swings with just one error for a .636 hitting percentage.  Mackenzie Biggs was right there with her, adding 14 kills on 23 swings for a .391 hitting percentage.  Lauryn Driscoll was the third Golden Eagle in double digits with 10 kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
 
Defensively, Catherine Ferragonio was the team leader with 11 digs on the afternoon, while Marissa Robertson added nine.  Olivia Olson added two total blocks.
 
Kutztown came out to a 6-5 lead in the first set but got not much further than that as Clarion rebounded with a 10-2 run to take control of the match.  Julia Holden blocked Brittney Moyer to make it 18-10, and Biggs made it 24-14 with a kill to force set point.  Biggs delivered the next point as well, bouncing a kill to make it 25-15 to seal the set.  Clarion opened the second set on a 7-3 run but was forced to hold off a rally that pulled Kutztown to within one point.  A 13-2 run sucked the life out of the Golden Bears as Biggs and Braungel punctuated the rally with kills, and Driscoll ended the set with a kill of her own to make it 25-13.
 
The Golden Bears briefly held a 13-12 lead in the third set, prompted Clarion coach Jennifer Mills to call timeout and help her team regroup.  They did just that, scoring the first five points out of the timeout and taking a 17-13 lead on Kutztown.  It would get as close as 20-19, but Braunagel recorded three of the last four Golden Eagle kills to force set point.  Holden did the rest, ripping a kill through a defender to take the 25-19 decision.