MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Clarion volleyball team nearly pulled off an incredible rally in the first set, but Millersville held them off and eventually took a 3-0 (26-28, 18-25, 18-25) decision over the Golden Eagles on Friday evening.  The weekend will wrap tomorrow at 2 p.m. when Clarion (12-8, 4-4 PSAC) faces West Chester on the road.
 
The biggest moments of the match came in the first set, when the Golden Eagles erased an 11-point deficit with a huge run that put them in position to take the set.  The Marauders opened up a 20-9 lead and looked to be poised to complete the blowout, but Alexa Cundy took the service line and helped Clarion pull back into the match.  The Golden Eagles started with five straight points capped by an ace from Cundy that led to Millersville calling their first timeout, and she added another ace after five more consecutive points to cut the lead to 20-18 and force another timeout.
 
With the momentum now in the Golden Eagles' favor, Cundy added another ace to cut it to a one-point set, and Lauren Aichinger tied the set with a block of Haley Butler.  Julia Holden recorded a kill on the next point to finish off the 13-0 run and put Clarion ahead 21-20.  The teams were tight the rest of the way in the set, with an error by the Marauders giving Clarion a set point opportunity at 24-23.  The teams traded back and forth, with Lydia Leiner tying the set at 26 with a kill, but the Marauders posted two straight points to close the set.
 
Millersville controlled the rest of the match for the most part, taking considerable leads and taking them the rest of the way.  The second set was at one point just a 10-9 lead for the Marauders, after a block by Aichinger and Leiner, but Millersville scored five of the next six points to build a lead and eventually win 25-18.  Clarion scored the first three points of the third set but Millersville took the lead at 8-7 and never relinquished it along to another 25-18 win.
 
Julia Holden had a team-high 14 kills, while Chrissy Cotton added 18 digs.