CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion volleyball team sent its seniors off with a complete effort on Saturday afternoon, sweeping Kutztown 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 26-24) at the Student Rec Center. The Golden Eagles improve to 18-8 overall and 9-4 in PSAC play to remain atop the Southwest division standings.
The offense came ready to play on Saturday, with the Golden Eagles hitting .405 as a team in the first set and finishing the match with a healthy .246 attack percentage.
Julia Holden finished with a team-high 10 kills while
Marissa Robertson added nine kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
Robertson's fellow seniors all enjoyed their own solid days against the Golden Bears, as well.
Lauryn Driscoll finished with eight kills,
Olivia Olson had seven kills and six blocks, and
Leah Vensel dished out 35 assists.
Clarion pulled away early in the first set against Kutzton, starting with a block by Vensel and Driscoll that bumped their modest lead to 8-5. It marked the start of an 8-0 run for Clarion, who built the advantage to 15-5 after a kill by Driscoll. The Golden Bears never got any closer than seven points for the remainder of the set as the Golden Eagles kept up the pressure, forcing set point on a kill by Olson and finishing it off with another by Holden.
The Golden Eagles did it again in the second set, starting on a 4-0 run and eventually expanding the lead to 7-3. Kutztown battled back and eventually took their own sizable lead, a 15-12 advantage halfway through, but Clarion responded with a 6-1 run to retake the lead at 18-17. In fact, that turned into an 11-2 run that included a service ace from
Chrissy Cotton, and eventually Clarion finished the set off at 25-19.
Neither team managed to pull away significantly in the third set, and the result came down to a battle in the final points. Kutztown led 24-23 after a kill by Brittney Moyer, but Olson tied it with one of her own, and Moyer committed an error on the next point to give Clarion the match point opportunity. Olson and Holden blocked Moyer on the final point to take the 26-24 win.
