CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion volleyball team picked up a significant win on Friday evening, defeating the PSAC Southeast leader East Stroudsburg 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 18-25, 25-23) at the Student Rec Center.  The Golden Eagles will look for a weekend sweep tomorrow when they host Kutztown for Senior Day.
 
The Golden Eagles stormed out to two quick set wins, and it looked like things would wrap up early on Friday.  The Warriors had other plans, however, rolling to a third set victory and proving a stern test in the fourth before Clarion ultimately prevailed.
 
Julia Holden recorded a match-high 17 kills to provide the bulk of the offense, while Aubrey Wrona added 14 kills and Lauryn Driscoll nine tallies.  Clarion was the more effective team on the serve with seven aces and numerous tough serves throughout, while East Stroudsburg out-blocked the Golden Eagles 10.0 – 8.0.  Chrissy Cotton had a match-high 22 digs and Olivia Olson had eight blocks.
 
Clarion hopped out to a 6-2 advantage to start the first set, with Marissa Robertson and Olivia blocked Andrea Coyle to finish off the run.  Holden made it 10-7 with a kill and added another as the lead expanded to 15-12.  Things only improved from there, as Robertson aced Sam Dunphy to make it 21-14, and Leah Vensel and Olson blocked Sarah Smith to force set point.  Holden ripped a kill on Clarion's second set point to make it 25-19.
 
East Stroudsburg led by a 10-7 score in the second set before a big run by the Golden Eagles, with the latter scoring six straight points to open up a 13-10 advantage.  Wrona notched a kill to make it 21-17 and Driscoll added another to expand the lead to 22-18, while Holden finished it off with two kills to take the 25-20 set win.
 
The Warriors rebounded to win the third set 25-18 and almost forced a fifth set, pushing Clarion to the brink in the fourth frame.  Neither team could get a clear advantage until a 4-0 run put the Golden Eagles ahead by a 16-12 score.  Clarion held a slim lead for much of the remainder of the set, with East Stroudsburg pulling to within 24-23 after a Clarion error.  Holden finished off the set and the match with a kill at 25-23.