CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle volleyball team polished off another sweep victory at home on Friday night, with Clarion defeating Slippery Rock 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-16) in Tippin Gym. Clarion (13-1, 3-0 PSAC West) will continue their homestand with a match against California (PA) tomorrow afternoon.
All three sets started out close, but in each instance the Golden Eagles pulled away about midway through, turning the match into yet another three-set sweep. Clarion has won all six of their home matches to date by 3-0 scores and have yet to drop a game in conference play.
Julia Piccolino racked up another double-double – her fourth of the season – with 10 kills and 12 digs against the Rock. She hit .304 in the match, finishing with just three errors on her 23 attempts.
Cassidy Snider returned to action and posted 11 kills, while
Abigail Selfridge recorded a match-high 13 digs.
London Fuller finished with an assist-dig double-double, involving herself in 36 points while also recording 11 digs.
The Golden Eagles were potent on offense, hitting .333 with 46 kills on 99 attempts. Meanwhile, they held Slippery Rock to just 18 total kills for the match and a .047 attack percentage. They out-dug The Rock 48-27 and hung five aces on them.
The duo of Mary Berger and Chelsie Wheeler blocked Piccolino early in the first set to pull The Rock within a 7-6 score, but the Golden Eagles chipped away and eventually built a commanding lead.
Lauren Aichinger made it a 14-9 lead with a kill, followed by one on the next point from Snider to put it at 15-9.
Amy Regrut helped Clarion win the race to 20 points when she made it 20-12 on a kill, and Aichinger iced away the first set with a kill at 25-15. The Golden Eagles opened up a 12-5 lead early in the second set and kept Slippery Rock at arm's length for the remainder, eventually scoring three straight points to close out the game.
Charlie Allison hit one off the hands of a defender to make it 23-14, and
Alyson Peters and Snider added two more to make it 25-14.
Slippery Rock kept it relatively close in the third set, pulling to within 13-12 after a 4-0 run. Clarion rallied with five straight points of their own coming out of a timeout, rattling off four kills in as many points from Regrut, Allison and Piccolino. Piccolino made it a 20-14 match with a kill and Selfridge finished off the match with aces on back-to-back points, including the deciding tally.
