SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Clarion volleyball team battled perhaps the top team in the PSAC Central Division, dropping a tough 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 16-18) decision at Shippensburg on Friday night.  The Golden Eagles (17-8, 8-4 PSAC) will try to salvage a split on the weekend when they face Millersville tomorrow afternoon.
 
The Golden Eagles had the Raiders on the ropes, winning the second and third sets to take a 2-1 lead before Shippensburg tied it up.  The fifth set was back-and-forth the entire team, with Clarion coming back from a 14-12 deficit at one point to extend the match.  They had the opportunity to clinch the match when they took a 16-15 advantage on a kill by Taylor Braunagel, but Shippensburg scored three straight points to take the set and the match.
 
Braunagel finished with a match-high 24 kills on 69 swings, committing only three errors for a .304 hitting percentage.  She also recorded 15 digs and three blocks for another kill/dig double-double.  Julia Holden followed up with 15 kills while Olivia Olson tacked on 11.  Defensively, Catherine Ferragonio had 31 digs while Christina Cotton added 23 digs of her own.  Leah Vensel finished with 49 assists.
 
After dropping the first set the Golden Eagles turned things on in the second, breaking a 9-9 deadlock with a kill by Holden.  Kaitlyn Glaser smashed a kill to make it 14-9 and Olson added another two points later to give Clarion a 15-10 advantage.  Braunagel made it 20-15 with a kill, and consecutive errors by the Raiders eventually delivered a 25-20 set win for Clarion.
 
Things were tight in the third set as well, with the two teams tied at 18 after a service ace by Shippensburg's Bridget Terrel.  However, Terrel committed a service error on her next trip to the line, and that was all the opening the Golden Eagles needed.  Cotton aced Megan Forstburg on the next attempt to make it 20-18, and Braunagel gave Clarion a 23-19 advantage with a kill.  The senior outside forced set point and then scored it two points later, smashing a kill to make it 25-21 and give Clarion a 2-1 lead.
 
The Raiders took the fourth set by a comfortable margin and it was on to the fifth.  At one point Clarion held a 7-5 lead but it evaporated quickly, and eventually Shippensburg built a 14-12 lead of their own.  Braunagel tied it at 14 with a kill and gave Clarion a 15-14 edge with another on the next point, but the Raiders eventually scored three straight to win the set.