INDIANA, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle volleyball team clinched one of the top two West seeds in the PSAC Tournament with a convincing road win on Saturday afternoon, defeating IUP 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-19) at the Kovalchick Convention & Athletic Complex. Clarion (23-2, 13-1 PSAC) closed out a stretch of five straight road matches with a 4-1 record.
 
Clarion hammered away at the Crimson Hawk defense in each of the first two sets, recording attack percentages of .333 and .394 as they piled on the points. The third set turned into a bit more of a defensive affair, but the Golden Eagles were able to overcome their offensive shortcomings to earn the win.
 
­Lauren Aichinger contributed five kills and five blocks, and was part of a defensive effort that held the Crimson Hawks to just a .057 attack percentage. Julia Piccolino recorded a team-high 14 kills on a .282 attack percentage, while Cassidy Snider had 13 kills and a .364 percentage. Abigail Selfridge had a match-high 13 digs.
 
In the first set, Clarion wasted no time in going ahead 7-3, with Aichinger punctuating the opening run with a kill. Snider issued kills on back-to-back points to make it a 10-5 advantage, and the Golden Eagles won the race to 15 points after Amy Regrut bounced a kill at 15-10. Aichinger and London Fuller combined to block Nicole Peterson at 19-13, and the team closed the set on a 5-1 run to take the first set of the night.
 
The Golden Eagles separated themselves from the Crimson Hawks in the second set in a 4-0 run that broke a tie and gave them the lead for good. Snider broke the 8-8 deadlock with a kill, and Piccolino and Regrut added on with kills on the next two points. Snider closed the run with a service ace, dropping one on Peterson to make it 12-8. That sparked Clarion's effort the rest of the way as they poured it on, including a tip kill by Fuller at 17-11. Piccolino and Aichinger combined to block Simay Memisoglu on set point to put their team ahead 2-0 in the match. The third set played out in a similar manner, with the Golden Eagles pulling ahead 15-9 on a kill by Alyson Peters. Peters added another to make it 18-13, and Selfridge eventually aced Grace Mangapora to close out the team match.
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