ERIE, Pa. --- For the second straight season, the Golden Eagle volleyball team earned a spot in the NCAA Atlantic Region final, as third-seeded Clarion swept seventh-seeded Shaw 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-18) in Friday's semifinal match. The championship match is set for Saturday, December 2 at 7 p.m.
 
Cassidy Snider was the dominant force in the match, with the junior outsider hitter recording 22 kills on 40 attempts for a .400 attack percentage. Charlie Allison and Julia Piccolino provided the remainder of the necessary offense as the Golden Eagles hit .268 for the match. Conversely, Clarion out-blocked Shaw 9.0 – 4.0 and kept the Bears to a .125 hitting percentage, with the Bears led by Lillian Carlson's 14 kills.
 
Early on it looked like the efficient offensive performance the Golden Eagles enjoyed in the previous day's sweep over West Virginia State carried over into Friday, as Clarion jumped to a quick 15-9 lead over the Bears. Snider was one of the main drivers of that barrage, recording seven kills in the team's first 16 points with just two errors in that span. Shaw tightened things up considerably and pulled even, tying the set at 19 after an error by Snider. Charlie Allison and London Fuller stemmed the tide when they combined to block Lillian Carlson on the next point, and back-to-back Shaw errors put the Golden Eagles ahead 22-19. Finley Kearney stuffed Kamille Patrick for a solo block coming out of a timeout, but it was not until Snider's ninth kill of the set that Clarion claimed the first set, 25-22.
 
Shaw countered with an early lead in the second set, going up 8-5 after a Clarion attack error and forcing the Golden Eagles into their first timeout of the set. The Golden Eagles chipped away, tying the set on a kill by Snider, and the junior outside hitter put her team back on top with a solo block to make it 9-8. Abigail Selfridge served up an ace to make it a 12-11 lead, and Snider eventually pushed the lead to 17-14 with a kill. The Golden Eagles won the race to 20 after an attack error by Khamare Steppe, but Shaw battled back and pulled to within 21-20. The Golden Eagles went back to work and eventually took the set, with Snider notching kills on back-to-back points to close it out.
 
In the third set, the duo of Kearney and Sadie Leisinger gave the Golden Eagles a 6-4 advantage early on when they blocked Carlson on the right side. Clarion started to pull away midway through the game, going ahead 14-10 after a kill by Allison, and Snider made it 16-12 with a kill down the line. Piccolino upped the lead to 20-17, terminating a long rally with a down line kill, and Fuller and Allison combined for a block on Maelie Chupin to force match point.   Snider delivered the match winner on the subsequent point, punctuating the 5-0 run with a shot down the line.
  Read Full Article