CLARION, Pa. --- A defensive edge at the net, as well as another dominant offensive performance from Cassidy Snider, helped the Golden Eagles volleyball team to a pivotal 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 20-25, 25-19) home win over IUP on Friday afternoon. Clarion pushed their way to a pair of close set wins to start the match and eventually fought their way to the four-set win.
 
The advantage at the point of attack proved to be a feather in the cap of the Golden Eagles, as Clarion out-blocked IUP 12-4 and held the Crimson Hawks to a .141 attack percentage. Olivia Ishmael led the way with nine total blocks while Snider and Emily Klopp each recorded four total blocks.
 
Snider also showed out on the scoresheet, pounding 29 kills with a .333 attack percentage. She set a new career-high for kills in a four-set match, topping the 28 she had against California (PA) on Sept. 24, and in the process became the second player in program history to go over 1,800 career kills. Now with 1,811 kills, she needs 93 kills over the rest of the season to break the program's career record of 1,903 set by Melanie Bull.
 
Elsewhere, Emily Klopp finished with eight kills and a .300 attack percentage, while Finley Kearney added five kills and a .400 attack percentage. Haley Fledderjohann led the team with 17 digs, followed by 16 from Lauren Fjerstad, who also had three aces. Emily Mohr made her first career start, digging eight balls.
 
The first two sets were as close as could be, with neither side opening up any considerable advantage for long. At one point early in the first set the Golden Eagles strung together five straight points to go ahead 7-6, with Marisa Markou landing three straight service aces and Snider bouncing a kill. IUP eventually put together a 5-0 run of their own, going ahead 22-20 after back-to-back aces from Simay Memisoglu. Finley Kearney stopped the bleeding with a kill and eventually Lauren Fjerstad aced Bailey Flowerdew to put her team ahead 23-22.
 
IUP countered with two straight points to force set point, but Clarion rallied with three consecutive points to take the first set. Kearney tied the first set at 24 with a solo block against Jessica Neiman, and Snider made it 25-24 with a kill. That paved the way for an error by the Crimson Hawks to give Clarion the opening game of the match.
 
The second set went back and forth, though the Golden Eagles maintained a slim edge for most of the proceedings. Peyton Belcher cut the lead to 21-20 with a kill but Clarion countered with three straight points, including kills on back-to-back points by Snider and a solo block by Ishmael. Snider struck again on set point, making it 25-23 and giving her team a two-set advantage. IUP cut the lead down to 2-1 with a third set win but the Golden Eagles put their foot on the gas in the fourth, going ahead 19-13 after an ace by Haley Fledderjohann. Snider blocked Kyra Schmidt to make it 23-17 and then recorded kills on the final two points for the win. Read Full Article