CLARION, Pa. – The Clarion volleyball team assured a spot in the conference tournament with a sweep victory on Tuesday night, as the Golden Eagles shut out Slippery Rock 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-18) at the Student Recreation Center. 
 
With the win, Clarion (18-10, 10-6 PSAC) can finish with no worse than a 10-8 record in conference play, while none of the trio of Mercyhurst, Pitt-Johnstown and Cal U can finish better than 9-9 for the remainder of the schedule.  The Golden Eagles currently sit as the seventh seed just ahead of Edinboro, with the latter owning a 9-7 conference record.
 
Julia Holden proved to be too much for The Rock to handle on Tuesday, with the senior outside hitter going off for 19 kills and a .548 hitting percentage, committing just two errors on 31 swings.  Lydia Leiner and Aubrey Wrona also appeared dominant at times, with the former posting seven kills and the latter nine kills and eight digs.  Chrissy Cotton posted the match-high with 14 digs. 
 
The Golden Eagles played as clean of a match as one could ask for, committing just nine attack errors over the course of three sets en route to a .355 hitting percentage.  Their defense held The Rock to just seven kills and a .065 hitting percentage in the third set.
 
Most of the pressure from Slippery Rock came in the first set, as they kept it close early on and even took an 18-17 lead on Clarion thanks to a kill by Lauren Weber.  The Golden Eagles responded with three straight points, with two kills by Wrona sandwiching an Abigail Selfridge service ace and making it 20-18.  Holly Pittman forced The Rock into a timeout with a kill that made it 21-19, and the Golden Eagles closed the set on a 5-0 run to post the 25-19 win.
 
Clarion embarked on a long run in the second set to put the game out of reach, turning a 6-5 advantage into a 19-9 lead in relatively short order.  Holden won the race to 20 with a kill at 20-11 and Wrona made it 24-13 with a kill, with an error by the Rock sealing the deal in the second frame.  The third set started close until a 5-1 run by the Golden Eagles made it 19-15, and a block by Lauren Aichinger and Leiner on match point put the match away for Clarion.