CLARION, Pa. – Playing in front of a raucous crowd on opening night in the renovated Tippin Gymnasium, the Clarion volleyball team closed the night with three straight set wins to defeat Mercyhurst 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-21) on Friday.  The Golden Eagles (19-10, 11-6 PSAC) will host Gannon tomorrow afternoon in the final regular season match.
 
Clarion took some time to get their footing but when they did they put it on the Lakers, winning three straight sets to close out the match.  Julia Holden recorded a match-high 26 kills­­ and committed just six errors, finishing with a .392 hitting percentage.  Lauren Aichinger had one of her best matches in recent memory with 14 kills, a .440 hitting percentage and six total blocks, while Aubrey Wrona had a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs. 
 
The first set went back and forth, with the Lakers leading for much of the proceedings.  Wrona and Holden posted back-to-back kills to tie the set at 22, but Mercyhurst scored three of the final four points to take the 25-23 set win.  The Golden Eagles opened the second set on an 8-4 run, capping the rally with a kill by Aichinger, but the two teams kept it even for most of the rest of the way.  Aichinger tied the set at 23 with a kill, and an attack error by Leah Kern opened the door for the Golden Eagles to take the set.  They did on the very next point when Wrona ripped a kill, making it 25-23 and tying the match at 1-1.
 
Clarion got off to a huge run in the third set, leading 17-9 at one point after back-to-back kills by Holden.  She added another to make it 19-11 and Aichinger won the race to 20 with a kill at 20-12.  Aichinger posted another to make it 23-15, and then the duo of Holly Pittman and Wrona blocked Tess Ganich on set point to make it a 2-1 advantage.  The Lakers rallied and played well in the fourth set, taking a 12-10 lead on a kill by Katie Baird.  Mercyhurst stayed in the lead at 17-15, but the Golden Eagles responded with a tip kill by Alexa Cundy and another by Holden to tie the set.  The last tie in the set came at 20-20 when Ganich recorded a kill, but Aichinger had back-to-back kills to make it 22-20.  Lydia Leiner forced match point with a kill and an error by the Lakers did the rest, giving Clarion the win.