CLARION, Pa. – It was a match where it felt like any point could turn the tide, but in the end the road team prevailed as Clarion fell to East Stroudsburg 3-2 (25-23, 28-30, 22-25, 31-29, 13-15) at the Student Recreation Center on Friday evening.  The two teams battled back and forth in five successive tight sets, with the Warriors edging out the Golden Eagles in the PSAC opener.  Clarion (8-5, 0-1 PSAC) will look to even their conference record on Saturday against Kutztown.
 
One week after recording a career-high 31 kills against Fairmont State, Julia Holden outdid herself with a career-high 32 kills against the Warriors.  She now has two matches in the all-time top-six in a single match at Clarion, and joins Melanie Bull as one of the only two players in program history to record multiple matches of 30+ kills.
 
Other Clarion athletes had standout days statistically as well.  Aubrey Wrona went off for a double-double of 17 kills and 27 digs, with the latter coming in just two digs behind libero Chrissy Cotton.  Alexa Cundy dished out 61 assists and Holly Pittman recorded 11 kills, five digs and four blocks. 
 
One of the big differences in the match came at the net, as East Stroudsburg out-blocked Clarion 17-9.  The front line presence made its impact at several different points of the evening, including three straight blocks near the end of the second set that erased the Golden Eagles' 24-21 advantage and eventually led to a 30-28 win for the Warriors. 
 
Clarion took the first set in a tight back-and-forth battle, rallying from a 22-19 deficit to score six of the final seven points to take the win.  Lauren Aichinger and Julia Holden blocked Sam Dunphy to take a 23-22 lead, and Holden bashed the final two kills of the set to make it a 25-23 set victory.  It looked like the Golden Eagles were well on their way to a second-set win before the Warriors came back, as the latter erased a 24-21 deficit and ended up winning 30-28 on kills by Caylinn Davis and Sarah Smith. 
 
East Stroudsburg held the lead throughout the third set in winning 25-22, but Clarion didn't allow them to shut the door in the fourth.  The Warriors had a match-point at 24-23 before Pittman recorded a kill to tie it, and the Golden Eagles kept the pressure on and score tight until the end.  A number of errors opened the door for Clarion to take the set win, which they did when Aichinger and Lydia Leiner blocked Smith for a 31-29 set win.  The Warriors kept up a good pace in the fifth set, though, holding on for the 15-13 victory.