CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle volleyball finished off their first home weekend sweep of the season on Saturday, shutting out the IUP Crimson Hawks for their third straight win and second in a row at home. With the win, Clarion (16-9, 8-5 PSAC) stayed alive in the hunt for the PSAC Tournament with five regular season matches remaining on the schedule.
The match was closer than the final score indicated as the feisty Crimson Hawks kept pace with the Golden Eagles for two of the three sets. The lone rout was in the second set, when Clarion hit .290 and held IUP to a .000 hitting percentage in winning 25-17. In fact, IUP took a late lead in the third set thanks to a solid string of points, leading 22-21 after a kill by Jasmin Raudys. The Golden Eagles scored four of the next five points to seal the deal, with
Julia Holden acing Liv Burns and
Aubrey Wrona recording a kill on match point.
Holden and
Holly Pittman were the top attackers for the second straight match, with Holden posting 12 kills and Pittman 11 in just three sets of action.
Lauren Aichinger had a match-high four blocks and
Chrissy Cotton led all players with 20 digs.
Alexa Cundy passed out 32 assists.
It seemed that Clarion might run away with the first set as they took a 17-12 lead, but the Crimson Hawks scored five straight to tie the game up at 17. An attack error by Burns gave the Golden Eagles some breathing room, and
Lydia Leiner kept the pressure on with a kill at 20-19. Clarion scored two straight points out of a timeout thanks to kills from Wrona and Holden, and Holden forced set point with a kill. Lizzie Virgin's error on the ensuing point gave the Golden Eagles the set. The second set was completely in Clarion's hands as the Golden Eagles opened on an 8-0 run and scored four straight to end the set, with Cundy punctuating things on a dump play at 25-17.
IUP did not back down though, and the lead traded hands several times in a back-and-forth third set. Kylie Osborn put the Crimson Hawks ahead with a kill and Dominica Niccolai posted two straight aces to put their team up 19-16, and Jessica Ignace made it 20-17 with a kill. Clarion regrouped on a kill by Holden, and pulled to within 21-20 on a cross court shot by Aichinger. Holden tied the set at 22 with a kill, and the duo of Leiner and Aichinger blocked Madi Burns to put Clarion up 23-22. Holden aced Liv Burns to put her team one point away and Wrona finished it off, pounding the kill to cap the match win.
