SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle volleyball team officially started their second trip through the PSAC West division on Tuesday night, opening the back half of divisional play with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-21) sweep over Slippery Rock on the road.
 
Clarion came ready to work on defense on Tuesday, notching 11 team blocks to just five for the Rock, and out-digging their opponent by a 42-26 margin. Cassidy Snider and Finley Kearney each totaled three blocks, with the latter getting the match-winning solo block against Alayna Chizmar that sealed the 25-21 third set. Abigail Selfridge, meanwhile, had a match-high 20 digs in only three sets of work.
 
Offensively, Snider put away 13 kills on 28 attempts or a .286 attack percentage, while Charlie Allison had 11 kills and a .474 attack percentage. Kearney threw in five kills and a .500 attack percentage to go with her defensive totals.
 
The Rock briefly held a lead midway through the first set, taking a 16-12 advantage after a kill by Callie Chevalier. A service error by Chizmar opened the door for a Golden Eagle run, with Kearney and Julia Piccolino notching kills on back-to-back points to cut the lead to one. Allison stuffed Erica Selfridge for a solo block to tie the set at 18 and Haley Fledderjohann aced Erica Selfridge on the next play to go ahead 19-18. Clarion won the first set lead for good at 22-21 on a tip kill by Fuller, the spark for a 4-0 set-winning run that concluded on Fuller's ace.
 
The Golden Eagles pulled away early in the second set, taking a 12-9 lead on a kill by Snider. That kicked off a 7-1 Clarion run that was punctuated by a kill and a block by Piccolino on back-to-back points, making it 18-10. Slippery Rock pulled to within 20-17 but Allison responded with a kill and a block on consecutive points to make it 22-17, and Kearney won the set with a kill at 25-19.
 
Clarion rallied from a third-set deficit to finish off the sweep, coming back from 19-16 for the win. Snider blocked Chizmar to make it 19-20, and two straight attack errors by the Rock put the Golden Eagles ahead 21-20. Snider broke a tie with a kill and added another to make it 23-21, and she then blocked Lauren Vonderhaar to force set point at 24-21. Kearney picked up the winner one point later, stuffing Chizmar for the win.
 
Winners of nine straight, the Golden Eagles will host Gannon on Saturday, October 21 at 1 p.m. Gannon entered the week just one game behind Clarion in the PSAC West standings, with the Golden Knights' sole conference loss coming to the Golden Eagles in Erie earlier this season.
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