WHEELING, W.Va. – The fifth-seeded Clarion volleyball team survived a wild five-setter in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional on Thursday, holding on for a 3-2 (26-24, 25-19, 21-25, 18-25, 15-7) win over the fourth-seeded Shippensburg Raiders.  Clarion will continue their weekend at the tournament on Friday when they face the winner of the Wheeling Jesuit / Shaw match, with first serve set for 7:30 p.m.
 
The teams traded points to start the fifth set before Aubrey Wrona and Julia Holden notched kills on back-to-back points to make it 4-1.  Lauryn Driscoll and Leah Vensel combined for a block on the next point, and another kill by Holden bumped the lead to five points.  The Blue and Gold wave continued from there as the Golden Eagles hit .526 in the fifth set, and Driscoll propelled Clarion to the match win with back-to-back kills to close the set.
 
Holden had a match-high 22 kills to help power the Golden Eagles to the win, while Wrona contributed on offense and defense with a Kill-Dig double-double of 15 kills and 20 digs.  Leah Vensel dished out 58 assists and Chrissy Cotton finished with a match-high 31 digs. 
 
The first set was dead even to start, with neither team going up by more than two points in the early going.  It looked at one point that Shippensburg might break the deadlock, but Clarion scored three straight points to take an 11-10 lead on a kill by Wrona.  Morgan DeFloria eventually put the Raiders ahead 21-18 but the Golden Eagles countered with a 4-0 run, starting with back-to-back blocks and a kill by Lauryn Driscoll.  Shippensburg rallied back and took a 24-23 lead to force set point, but three consecutive errors by the Raiders allowed the Golden Eagles to take the first set 26-24.
 
Clarion jumped out to a lead early in the second set, turning a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 advantage thanks to a pair of kills from Olivia Olson.  A 4-0 run midway through the set that included three kills from Holden and a service ace put the Golden Eagles ahead 16-11, and Vensel won the race to 20 with a tip kill to make it 20-14.  The Raiders rallied back, though, scoring five of the next six points to pull within 21-19, but they got no closer as Wrona took the serve and finished off the set.  She opened up a 4-0 run with a kill and then served up two straight aces, including the set winner to make it 25-19.
 
Shippensburg found their footing in the third set, taking the lead early on and holding on for a 25-21 set victory.  The key portion of the set came in a 4-0 run that turned Clarion's 12-11 lead into a 15-12 advantage for the Raiders, and Shippensburg never trailed in the set again.  The fourth set more closely resembled the first two as neither team was able to pull away for any definitive advantage early on.  The Raiders once again took control late in the set, taking a 19-13 advantage with a 5-0 run and eventually winning the game 25-18.