JOHNSTOWN, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle volleyball team got one step closer to earning a home match in the opening round of the PSAC Tournament on Tuesday night, as Clarion rallied from a one-set deficit to beat Pitt-Johnstown 3-1 (22-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-18) on the road.
 
Clarion (22-2, 12-1 PSAC West) will enter this weekend's tilt with IUP with the opportunity to clinch that opening-round home match. By virtue of the team's 3-1 victory over the Crimson Hawks (7-4 PSAC West) earlier this season, the Golden Eagles would need only to win two sets against IUP to earn the tiebreaker. Failing that, they would need only to win one of their three remaining matches to clinch an opening-round home match. 
 
The Golden Eagles rebounded from a first set loss to the Mountain Cats on Tuesday night, taking control in the subsequent three sets to cruise to the victory. Clarion hit a remarkable .434 over the course of three sets, including a sizzling .607 over the course of the second and third sets. They also worked hard on the defensive end, out-digging the Mountain Cats 81-55.
 
Cassidy Snider was dominant offensively and defensively, hitting .500 with 21 kills while also digging out 17 balls for a double-double. Alyson Peters contributed nine kills and a .500 attack percentage, and Amy Regrut was the third Golden Eagle to top .500 in attack percentage with eight kills on 15 attempts.
 
Also posting double-doubles on Tuesday night were Julia Piccolino, who recorded 13 kills and 15 digs, and London Fuller, who had 48 assists and 15 digs.
 
The Mountain Cats opened up the match by stunning Clarion in the first set, going on a 6-0 run to tie the set at 14 and eventually pulling away with a 25-22 set victory. The Golden Eagles responded with a dominant second set, exploding for a 9-0 run to close it out and tie up the match. Snider bashed kills on three consecutive points to make the lead 19-12, and Hailey Barden and Fuller added kills on the next two points to up the lead to nine points. Snider contributed two more kills to force set point and Abigail Selfridge aced Gabi DeRenzo to close it out.
 
The third set was tighter early on, with Clarion not taking the lead for good until Julia Piccolino's kill that made it 13-12. Barden aced Lualis Alvarado to make it 16-13, and Piccolino notched a kill at 18-13 to make it a five-point lead. Peters bounced a kill at 23-17, followed by a kill from Snider to force set point. That set up an error by Adiamar Beaz, giving the Golden Eagles a 2-1 match lead.
 
Pitt-Johnstown briefly led the fourth set by a 10-9 score, but Clarion went on a 7-1 run to put a stranglehold on the set and the match. Snider recorded kills on back-to-back points to make it 16-11, and Peters made it 19-12 with a kill of her own. The Mountain Cats scored five straight points to pull within 19-17, but Clarion responded with points on six of the last seven serves to take the match.
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