BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Clarion volleyball team opened their 2018 season with a split on Friday, defeating Rollins 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 25-18) before falling to Hillsdale 3-1 (12-25, 25-23, 9-25, 14-25) on the first day of the Ferris State Invitational.  The Golden Eagles will resume action tomorrow against Upper Iowa and Lake Superior State.
 
Clarion topped Rollins in the first match thanks to a strong serving game, recording eight service aces against the Tars.  Chrissy Cotton recorded four of those aces while also leading the team with 21 digs, helping to hold the Tars to just a .048 hitting percentage.  Marissa Robertson led the Golden Eagles with 10 kills against Rollins.
 
The first set was tied 9-9 before Clarion broke it for good after back-to-back errors from Rollins.  Olivia Olson put the Golden Eagles ahead 12-10 with a kill, and Cotton put the team ahead 17-13 with an ace.  Lauryn Driscoll forced a Rollins timeout with a kill to make it 23-18, and the first set ended two points later after a ball-handling error by the Tars.
 
The Tars built a 17-12 lead in the second set before Clarion started to come back, with Aubrey Wrona bashing a kill to cut the deficit to 17-15.  Robertson launched an ace to cut the lead to one point, and an error by Rollins tied the set at 17.  The teams traded leads back and forth until Driscoll took it for good with a kill to make it 26-25.  Wrona got the kill on set point, giving Clarion a 2-0 advantage in the match. 
 
The Golden Eagles took the lead early in the third set and at one point held a 19-12 advantage over Rollins.  Robertson made it 21-16 with a kill, and the Tars committed errors on three straight points to give Clarion the victory.
 
The match against the Chargers – who entered the season receiving votes in the national poll – proved to be a much tougher test.  Olson led the Golden Eagles with 14 kills and hit .310, but Clarion hit just .027 as a team while falling in four sets.  Cotton contributed another 20 digs while Leah Vensel had a double-double of 33 assists and 12 digs.
 
Hillsdale came out firing in the first set, opening on a 7-2 run and leading by as many as 16 points en route to a 25-9 set win.  Clarion's lone win in the match came in the second, in which they were the ones to get on a roll against the Chargers.  A 6-0 run early on that included a kill by Julia Holden made it 8-3, and back-to-back kills by Driscoll gave Clarion a 17-6 advantage midway through the set.  The Chargers mounted a comeback and pulled to within 24-23, but Holden iced the set with a kill on the next point to tie the match.  Hillsdale responded with two strong efforts in the final two sets, taking them and the match.