ERIE, Pa. --- Julia Piccolino became the 13^th player in program history to top 1,000 career kills, and the Golden Eagle volleyball team advanced to the Atlantic Region semifinals with a sweep over West Liberty 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-21) at the Highmark Events Center. The win provided a measure of revenge for Clarion (27-4), as the Hilltoppers defeated them in a meeting earlier this season.
 
Piccolino recorded her historic kill midway through the first set after being uncharacteristically shut out early on. The senior outside bounced one down the left line to give the Golden Eagles a 14-10 advantage in the first set. Piccolino reached 1,000 career kills in just her 78^th career match.
 
Emotions were running high on both sides of the court as the match between the Golden Eagles and Hilltoppers got underway. It was ultimately the Golden Eagles that funneled that passion into greater productivity, settling into the match as time went to lock up the sweep. One of the biggest advantages Clarion enjoyed was on the service line, with the Golden Eagles recording 11 service aces to just one for the Hilltoppers. Beyond that, Clarion served aggressively over the course of the match to keep West Liberty out of system. To that point, Hailey Barden led all players with four aces, while Piccolino added three and Snider two.
 
Piccolino and Snider tied for the match-high with 12 kills apiece, but Lauren Aichinger was the most efficient Clarion attacker, translating her 11 attempts into seven kills with just one error. Abigail Selfridge had a team-high 13 digs. Fuller recorded a double-double of 30 assists and 10 digs.
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first set, with Snider serving up an early ace and the duo of Amy Regrut and Alyson Peters putting up an early block. Clarion eventually expanded that lead to 9-5, forcing the Hilltoppers into a timeout after an ace from Piccolino and an error on the subsequent point.
 
The set tightened considerably from that point as West Liberty rallied back, tying it up at 17 will a kill from Ruby Countryman. Peters got a key point late, blocking Countryman to put the Golden Eagles ahead 20-19, and Hailey Barden forced the Hilltoppers into their second timeout with a timely ace that made it 23-21. West Liberty rallied again, though, and tied it at 23 with consecutive points.
 
Piccolino pulled the Golden Eagles back even with a kill to make it 24-all, and then the Clarion defense did the rest. Aichinger and Fuller teamed up to block Kaija Sydlowski to force set point, and then the duo of Aichinger and Snider rejected Nina Billotto to claim the first frame of the day.
 
Clarion did damage against the Hilltoppers from the service line early in the second set, firing off three aces in the first 20 points as they took a 12-8 advantage. Regrut forced the Hilltoppers into burning a timeout after blasting a kill at 12-8, and two points later Peters stepped up to stuff Olivia McAtee to give Clarion a six-point advantage. The senior middle ran the lead to seven points with a kill that made it 15-8.
 
That was when the Golden Eagles really settled into a groove in the second set. Even Abigail Selfridge got into the offensive action, recording a kill on a serve-reception that made it 17-10 for Clarion. Piccolino went back corner and got a touch to open up a double-digit advantage, making it 22-12. Aichinger forced set point with a bounce to the middle of the floor, and two points later Sydlowski pushed out past the out-of-bounds line to give Clarion a 2-0 match lead.
 
West Liberty opened up an early advantage in the third set, going up 5-1 at one point, but the Golden Eagles worked to not let them run away with the set. Aichinger ripped a kill off a defender's hands to pull the team to within 9-7, and Piccolino served up an ace to tie the set. On the very next point, Snider went hard off the block on the left side for a kill, giving Clarion a 10-9 lead and forcing a West Liberty timeout.

 
The momentum appeared to shift into the Golden Eagles' favor at that point, and Clarion was the first to 15 points as Snider and Peters combined to block Billoto at 15-12. The Hilltoppers rallied to tie the set at 16, and eventually took an 18-17 lead on a kill by Countryman. Piccolino tied it at 19 with kills on back-to-back points, and a miss down line by the Hilltoppers gave Clarion a 20-19 edge. The senior outside bashed two more kills out of a timeout, and Barden posted an ace to make it a 23-19 lead. Aichinger forced match point with a kill on a slide attack, and Piccolino hit a shot out of system three points later to get the kill at 25-21.
 

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