WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The Clarion volleyball team rebounded from a Friday night loss with a comeback effort on Saturday, defeating West Chester 3-2 (16-25, 27-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-8) on the road to salvage a weekend split.  The Golden Eagles (19-9, 10-5 PSAC) close their season with three PSAC Southwest matches this week, starting with the home finale against IUP on Tuesday.
 
Julia Holden had a match-high 22 kills while hitting a healthy .273 on the afternoon, followed by Aubrey Wrona's 13 kills.  Both Chrissy Cotton and Marissa Robertson went over 20 digs, with Cotton finishing with 26 and Robertson with 21. 
 
The Golden Eagles fell behind 2-1 but dug deep for wins in the fourth and fifth sets, holding West Chester to a combined -.051 hitting percentage in the final two sets.  Clarion finished with 14.0 team blocks compared to seven for the Golden Rams, and digs were 101-94 in the Golden Eagles' favor.
 
After a first set that was decidedly in the Golden Rams' favor, the Golden Eagles rallied from a deficit in the second set to tie the team match.  Clarion trailed by a 15-10 score at one point in the set, but a 7-2 run punctuated by a Cotton ace tied the score at 17.  West Chester had set point at 25-24 before Wrona tied it with a kill, and two points later Robertson added a kill to make it 27-25.
 
The Golden Rams took the third set as well, forcing the Golden Eagles to win the fourth to stay alive.  Clarion took the lead for good after Aubrey Wrona made it 8-7 with a kill, though they were unable to run away with the score for much of the set.  Holden made it 23-18 with a kill and then forced set point at 24-20, while Robertson put away the set winner to tie the match.
 
The Golden Eagles hit .312 in the fifth set, bouncing back from a 5-3 deficit to score seven straight points and build a 10-5 advantage.  West Chester pulled only as close as four points before Clarion rattled off three straight to win the set, with Wrona delivering the winner.