CLARION, Pa. – Playing in front of their home fans for the first time this year, the Clarion volleyball team defeated Concord 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-17) in their first match of the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament on Thursday evening.  The Golden Eagles (3-2) will be back in action along with the rest of the tournament field on Friday morning.
 
The offense was in sync for the entire match as Clarion hit .369 for the night, never posting a hitting percentage below .341 for a single set.  Three Golden Eagles finished in double-digits in kills, led by Julia Holden's 17 kills in just three sets.  Freshman Aubrey Wrona was just behind her with 16 kills while Lauryn Driscoll added 10 kills.  Leah Vensel had 41 assists and Chrissy Cotton recorded 14 digs.
 
Clarion sucked the drama out of the first set relatively early on, pulling away at 6-4 and eventually building up to a nine-point lead.  Wrona put the Golden Eagles ahead 9-5 with a kill, and the duo of Holden and Olivia Olson won the race to 15 with a block of Brooke Heck.  The high water mark came at 23-14 after a kill by Lauren Aichinger, and Holden put a ball away a few points later to cement the 25-17 win. 
 
The momentum carried over to the second set when Clarion embarked on an 8-0 run to take a seven-point advantage early.  The Mountain Lions rallied and pulled to within four points, making it 16-12 on an error by Driscoll, but the Golden Eagles found their footing and went back on the attack.  Wrona forced set point on a kill and Holden did the rest, notching another kill for the set win.
 
Concord's best set was the third, with the Mountain Lions building a 13-11 lead midway through.  Clarion responded with a 7-1 run punctuated with a block by Driscoll and Wrona that made it 18-14, and Holden put her team up 20-16 with a kill.  She added another kill at 23-17, followed by an ace from Vensel to force set point.  Holden deliver the coup de grace with a tip kill, taking the set and the match for Clarion.