CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Golden Eagle volleyball team earned a crucial road win to kick off the stretch run of the regular season, defeating Cal U 3-1 (28-26, 25-20, 20-25, 25-14) to improve their postseason chances on Friday night.  Clarion (17-9, 9-5 PSAC) will play their final road regular season match tomorrow when they face Seton Hill.
 
The Golden Eagles have been a strong road team all year long, owning an 8-4 record in true road matches and a 4-0 mark in neutral court contests.  That trend continued against the Vulcans as Clarion won their fourth straight match, taking a 2-0 lead over Cal U and splitting the third and fourth sets for the win.
 
Aubrey Wrona had the match-high with 16 kills and also added 13 digs for a double-double, while Holly Pittman and Julia Holden each recorded 14 kills of their own.  Chrissy Cotton posted a match-high 29 digs, part of an 86-dig performance by the Golden Eagles.  Cal U controlled action at the net with 13.0 team blocks, compared to just 2.0 total blocks for Clarion.
 
Cal U opened up a considerable lead in the first set, going up 17-12 on a kill by Madison Kline.  Clarion responded with a run of their own, taking seven of the next 10 points to pull within one point of the Vulcans.  Holden recorded a kill to cut the lead to 21-20, but the Vulcans scored three straight points to force set point at 24-20.  Back-to-back Cal U errors opened the door for Clarion, and Wrona posted a kill to cut the lead to 24-23.  Pittman tied the set at 24 with a kill and from there the teams traded points, with Pittman breaking the tie with a kill to make it 27-26.  Sarah Benson committed a ball handling error on Clarion's set point, giving the Golden Eagles the set win.
 
There was less drama in the second set as Clarion opened on a 5-2 run, and at one point opened up a 17-9 lead on back-to-back service aces by Wrona.  Lauren Aichinger helped the Golden Eagles win the race to 20 with a kill to make it a six-point advantage.  Wrona and Pittman recorded back-to-back kills to force set point, and Wrona put away the set at 25-20 to give Clarion a 2-0 match advantage.  After the Vulcans scored a win in the third set to keep the match alive, the Golden Eagles dominated the fourth, opening on a 7-3 run.  Cal U never scored more than two points in a row in the final game as Clarion took the set 25-14.