WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The Clarion volleyball team rebounded on Saturday with a three-set sweep on the road, giving head coach
Jennifer Herron her 300
th win at Clarion with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 29-27) victory over West Chester. The Golden Eagles (13-8, 5-4 PSAC) have won two of their last three on the road, and will conclude a stretch of five straight road matches next weekend.
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The Golden Eagles made quick work of the Golden rams in the first two sets, taking them by identical 25-16 scores to open up a dominant 2-0 lead in the match. The third set was much more closely fought as West Chester refused to go away quietly, erasing Clarion's match-point late in the third set several times before a kill by
Julia Holden and an ensuing error by Jillian Borgerding sealed the deal.
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Holden finished with a match-high 12 kills, while teammates
Aubrey Wrona and
Holly Pittman each recorded eight kills. Wrona finished with a team-high 17 digs and was part of an effort that held the Golden Rams to a .109 hitting percentage.Â
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The victory was a historic one for Herron, who is already the program's all-time leader in wins. She becomes the first Clarion volleyball coach to top 300 wins in the history of the program.
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The first set started out close, but the Golden Eagles went on a 7-1 run that was punctuated by a kill from
Lauren Aichinger that made it 16-11. The onslaught continued as the Golden Eagles pushed the advantage to double-digits, with Wrona bouncing a kill at 23-13, and
Lydia Leiner notching one to force set point at 24-14. Leiner also delivered the set-ender with a kill, making it 25-16 and putting the team ahead 1-0. Clarion scored the first three points of the second set and opened up a 15-9 lead on a kill by Wrona. They won the race to 20 points on a kill by Leiner, and Wrona aced Chiara Mowrey on set point to take the 2-0 match lead.
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The third set was a tight one from the outset, with West Chester even briefly holding the lead at 19-18. Clarion re-claimed the advantage at 20-19 on an by
Abigail Selfridge, and Wrona extended the lead to two points with a kill. Pittman forced match point with a block of Grace Whitney to make it 24-21, but the Golden Rams rallied to tie it. The set would not end until Holden recorded a kill to make it 28-27, and an error by West Chester on the final match point set the final deficit.
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