CALIFORNIA, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle volleyball team suffered their first setback in more than a month on Friday evening, as Clarion dropped a 3-0 (25-19, 28-26, 25-14) decision to California (Pa.) in PSAC action.
 
The Vulcans played strong defense in keeping the Golden Eagle offense attack at bay, with the latter hitting just .032 in the match. Julia Piccolino finished the match with 11 kills and 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season, but she was the only Clarion play to crack double-digits in kills. Abigail Selfridge tied Piccolino for the team-high in digs with 11 of her own.
 
The first set started out fairly close, though the Vulcans pulled ahead early with a 4-0 run that made it 12-7. The Golden Eagles cut that lead to one point with a 4-0 run of their own, starting and ending with kills by Cassidy Snider and including one from Alyson Peters. California pulled away with an 18-13 advantage, though Clarion pulled to within 21-19 late. The Vulcans shut that rally down with four straight points to end the set, making it 25-19.
 
The highlight of the match was the back and forth second set, as it became apparent the winner of that emotional frame would carry the momentum into the third. Clarion took a 12-10 lead on a kill by Snider, and London Fuller tied the set at 16 with a no-look tip kill off a dig by Selfridge. California built a 22-19 lead and later forced set point at 24-22, but the Golden Eagles kicked off a 3-0 run to get back in the set. Lauren Aichinger ripped one off the hands of a blocker to get it within one point, and Piccolino bombed one from the left side to tie it up at 24.
 
The duo of Aichinger and Piccolino then blocked Chelsea Howard to give the Golden Eagles their own chance at set point before Allie Droneberger tied it up with a kill. The last time of the set came at 26-26, but Chelsea Howard and Elisa Rugiero recorded kills on back-to-back points to give the Vulcans the uplifting 28-26 set win. California rode that emotional wave into the third set as they opened on a 6-2 run, and going up 16-7 at one point. The Golden Eagles continued to battle by scoring five straight points, but the Vulcans scored the next six to make it 22-12 and eventually won 25-14.
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