INDIANA, Pa. --- For the eighth time in 13 conference matches, the Golden Eagles volleyball team went to five sets with a PSAC West opponent, this time falling 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 25-11,19-25, 9-15) to IUP in Indiana on Tuesday night.
 
With the loss, the Golden Eagles enter this weekend's action tied with IUP in the PSAC West standings with identical 9-4 records. Clarion holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Crimson Hawks, though, meaning that the Golden Eagiles will host a first round playoff match in the upcoming PSAC Tournament with either a win or an IUP loss in the final match. Both teams face Pitt-Johnstown this weekend.
 
Neither team carried any sort of significant attack advantage for more than a set, with Clarion hitting .304 in the third set and IUP hitting .313 in the fifth. The service line proved a critical factor in more ways than one; not only did the teams combine for 26 aces and 19 service errors, the ability to for the receiving team to get in system – and conversely, for the serving team to keep them out of rhythm – was crucial.
 
Cassidy Snider logged a match-high 23 kills, the only Golden Eagle to break double-digits and one of just three in the match despite the five-set length. Julia Shaw kicked in six kills while Marisa Markou dished out 35 assists, dug 11 balls and served up five aces. Lauren Fjerstad was even better at the service line, dealing out seven of the Golden Eagles' 14 aces for the match.
 
The teams traded close sets in the first two frames of the night, with IUP taking the first and the Golden Eagles taking the second. The Crimson Hawks broke a 16-16 tie with a 7-0 run in the first set, going up 22-16 after a block by Sara Fandel and Lauren Valentic. Valentic logged the decisive kill of the set, winning it 25-19. Clarion went up 18-13 in the second set on a kill by Cassidy Snider before IUP responded with five straight points to knot things up. The Golden Eagles were undeterred, with Emily Klopp breaking the tie with a kill. Snider had kills on back-to-back points to force set point at 24-21 and then had the set winner to even up the match score.
 
Clarion dominated the third set, scoring 10 of the first 11 points and leading 15-2 at one point thanks to three straight service aces by Markou. The Crimson Hawks chipped away and pulled to within 18-11 but the Golden Eagles countered by scoring seven straight, starting with a kill by Shaw and closing with an ace by Fjerstad, her third of that 7-0 run. IUP pulled away in the fourth set, going up 20-12; Clarion scored seven of the next 10 points but could not complete the comeback as they fell 25-19. The Crimson Hawks pulled a similar trick in the fifth set, going up 14-7 on a 4-0 run en route to the win.
  Read Full Article