ERIE, Pa. --- With a dominating effort at the service line and on the attack, the Golden Eagle volleyball team secured a spot in the NCAA Atlantic Region final, as Clarion (28-4) defeated Wheeling 3-1 at the Highmark Events Center on Saturday night. The Golden Eagles will play in their first regional final since 2010, when they defeated California (Pa.) to advance to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals.
 
For the second straight night the Golden Eagles held a big advantage at the service line, out-acing the Cardinals 8-2 and generally keeping them off-balance with the serve. Equally as impressive was the defensive effort. Clarion out-blocked Wheeling 18-8 and held the high-powered Cardinal attack to just a .176 attack percentage.
 
Four primary Golden Eagles attackers hit .333 or better, led by Alyson Peters' .533 attack percentage that featured nine kills and just one attack error. Amy Regrut pounded 13 kills on 29 swings with only one error for a .414 attack percentage. Julia Piccolino had a match-high 17 kills and a .375 attack percentage while Cassidy Snider finished with 16 kills and a .333 attack percentage.
 
London Fuller was at her best, dishing out 55 assists to go with 11 digs, three blocks and an ace. Hailey Barden had a match-high three service aces, while Sophia Lucas served up two. Abigail Selfridge had a match-high 19 digs.
 
The Golden Eagles won a competitive first set by a 25-20 score, outlasting the Cardinals and rushing them with a late rally for the win. Piccolino gave them a 20-18 lead with a kill and it was off to the races the rest of the way. Lucas served up an ace on the next point and the Golden Eagles got blocks on consecutive points after that, with Lauren Aichinger and Regrut blocking Riley Kindall on the first point and the duo of Piccolino and Aichinger stuffing Lexi Smith on the second. Piccolino went down line for a kill on set point.
 
The turning point, such as it was, came in the second set. Clarion roared to life midway through the set, turning an 11-9 advantage into a 19-9 lead thanks to an 8-0 run. Piccolino won the race to 15 points with a kill at 15-9, and Regrut tapped kills on consecutive points to make it an 18-9 lead before Piccolino bumped it to double digits. Piccolino then posted kills on three of the last four points in the set to close out a 25-13 second set.
 
Wheeling rebounded with a gutsy effort in the third set, holding off a Golden Eagle rally that tied the set at 20 to win by a 25-22 score. Clarion proceeded to essentially run back the second set with another dominant effort in the fourth, starting with a 5-1 run that opened on a kill by Peters. The closest it got the rest of the set was six points, after a kill by Kindall made it 11-5. Things soon got out of hand as Regrut ran it up to 18-8 on a kill, and the senior right side made it 20-10 a few points later. After Barden's back row attack for a kill made it 22-12, Selfridge served it out, with Clarion finishing with blocks on back-to-back points for the win.


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