WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Clarion volleyball team finished their weekend at the Atlantic Region Crossover on Saturday with a pair of wins, sweeping both West Liberty and Notre Dame (Ohio) in 3-0 victories. They defeated the Hilltoppers 25-20, 25-15, 25-18, and the Falcons 25-20, 25-16, 27-25.
With the wins, the Golden Eagles improve to 8-4 on the season. They open PSAC play next weekend when they host East Stroudsburg on Friday, Sept. 27.
One day after recording 31 kills in a win over Fairmont State,
Julia Holden was back at it again, recording 25 kills in the win over the Falcons and totaling 35 kills for the day.
Holly Pittman enjoyed a big match against the Hilltoppers, recording 10 kills and hitting a lights-out .625. As a team the Golden Eagles hit .398 against West Liberty, the eighth-best single-match mark in program history. Their match against Notre Dame was no slouch, either, as they hit .263 collectively.
The first set against West Liberty was a tight one for a while, with Kailee Cunningham tying the score at 18 on a kill. The Golden Eagles scored six of the next seven points, though, with Pittman solo-blocking Mackenzie Daub to make it 23-18 and
Aubrey Wrona bashing a kill to force set point. Wrona finished off the set with a kill at 25-20. Clarion opened the second set on a 9-2 run punctuated by an ace from
Alexa Cundy and eventually built a double-digit lead on
Lauren Aichinger's kill at 19-9. Wrona again hit the finisher with a kill at 25-15. The third set was never in question either as the lead eclipsed 10 points, and
Chrissy Cotton forced match point with an ace. The Hilltoppers committed an error to end the set and the match at 25-18.
The late match against the Falcons had a greater number of tense moments but the same result. Clarion enjoyed a 5-0 run midway through the set to turn a narrow advantage to a 20-14 lead, and Pittman ripped a kill at 22-20, and then played a part in two consecutive blocks to end the set at 25-20.
Aubry Ohlson finished off the second set with a kill at 25-16 and put the Golden Eagles in the driver's seat, but the Falcons played it tight in the third to provide some drama. Notre Dame led 24-23 after an ace by Blaire Barr, and again had a chance to extend the match at 25-24, but a pair of errors put the Golden Eagles at match point. Holden did the rest, bouncing a kill to make it 27-25 and take the win.
