CLARION, Pa. – It was a hard-fought battle where every point was precious, but the Golden Eagle volleyball team could not mount a final comeback in falling 3-2 (24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 12-15) to IUP at Tippin Gymnasium on Friday evening. Clarion (18-9, 10-5 PSAC West) will now assuredly close out the season as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming PSAC Tournament, and will play either Edinboro or Gannon on the road in the first round.
 
It was a match defined by close sets, long rallies and tight margins. The difference early on was the efficiency of the IUP attack compared to that of Clarion. The Crimson Hawks' committed just 13 errors and hit .305 in the first three sets, while the Golden Eagles hit just .252 in that same span. That proved to be the difference in the first set, when IUP rallied from a 23-20 deficit to take the game 26-24, and the Crimson Hawks out-hit Clarion .314 - .175 in the second set to take a 2-0 match lead.
 
The Golden Eagles heated up in the third set, though, hitting .351 and finally earning their first set win of the evening. IUP had taken a 17-15 lead before Clarion rallied for four straight points, with Julia Piccolino and Lauren Aichinger tying the set at 17 with kills on consecutive points. Aichinger and London Fuller blocked Nicole Peterson to make it a 19-17 lead, and Cassidy Snider bounced kills on three straight points to edge the lead to 22-18. Piccolino later delivered the set point, launching one off a set from Abigail Selfridge to make it 25-23.
 
There was just as little breathing room in the fourth set as the teams traded leads and tied scores throughout. It seemed as if the Crimson Hawks might seal the match up after Caroline Walsh and Grace Mangapora blocked Aubrey Wrona to make it 23-22 but Clarion responded with three straight points. Piccolino put away kills on consecutive points to make it 24-23, and Aichinger blocked Walsh on set point to tie the match at 2-2.
 
The fifth set was another battle, with the Crimson Hawks forcing the court flip after a Clarion service error. Clarion rallied with four straight points to take a 10-8 lead, punctuated by a kill from Snider, but IUP soon rallied themselves and took a 12-11 lead. Snider cut it to 13-12 with a kill, but the Crimson Hawks scored on two straight errors for the win.
 
Snider recorded a match-high 25 kills and also recorded 12 digs for a double-double. Also in the Kill-Dig double-double game were Piccolino (18 K, 15 D) and Wrona (10 K, 14 D). Fuller dished out 54 assists and also added 11 digs.