CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle volleyball team put on a clinic in the opening two sets before holding on in a tight third, as Clarion (11-1, 1-0 PSAC West) swept Mercyhurst 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-22) in the conference home opener at Tippin Gymnasium.
It was an offensive showcase for the Golden Eagles in the first two sets, as they committed just six combined errors in those games and hit .444 to start the match. Their serve also proved tough for the Lakers to handle, as Clarion aced Mercyhurst eight times in the match and held them to a .024 attack percentage in the match.
The offensive pop came primarily from the duo of
Amy Regrut and
Hailey Barden, with the former notching a match-high 12 kills and the latter contributing 10 kills to the cause. Regrut hit .524 for the match, committing just one error on 12 attempts, while Barden hit .350.
London Fuller,
Abigail Selfridge and
Sophia Lucas posted two aces apiece, with Selfridge recording 10 digs and Fuller 32 assists.
A common theme throughout the match was that each set started out fairly back and forth. In the case of the first two sets, those close starts eventually turned into big wins for the Golden Eagles. The Lakers led Clarion 8-6 early in the first set before a 9-1 run by the latter erased most of the doubt in the outcome, with Barden recording two kills in that stretch to eventually make it 15-9.
Lauren Aichinger made it 18-10 with a kill, and Barden increased the lead to 20-12 with one later in the set. Selfridge finished off the opening set with a tough serve, acing Corinne Bechtold for the win.
Likewise, Mercyhurst led the second set 7-5 before the Golden Eagles started scoring points in chunks, going ahead 10-8 on an ace by Fuller. At one point Clarion scored 10 straight against the Lakers, turning what had been a 12-10 Golden Eagle advantage into a 22-10 runaway.
Sadie Leisinger entered the match and bounced a kill to force set point, and Barden launched an ace on the following point to take the game 25-14.
The Lakers were able to keep pace in the third set, tying things up at 20-20 on a kill by Paige Miller.
Julia Piccolino and Regrut recorded kills to re-take the lead, and
Charlie Allison added another to up the lead to 23-21. Barden just barely missed a downline kill on the team's first match point but finished off the second, going cross court for the 25-22 set win.
