ERIE, Pa. --- It was yet another five-set showdown between the Golden Eagles and Gannon on Saturday afternoon, with Clarion coming out on top this time with a 3-2 (27-25, 15-25, 25-17, 15-25, 15-12) win over the Golden Knights at Hagerty Family Events Center. Clarion responded to a fourth-set loss with a comeback in the fifth set, scoring seven of the last nine points of the set for a win.
 
Cassidy Snider made Golden Eagles history in the second set, breaking Clarion Sports Hall of Famer Melanie Bull's 21-year-old program record for career kills by surpassing 1,903 for her career. She tied the record early in the second set and got the tie-breaking tally later in the set, when she cut Gannon's lead to 13-10 with a kill.
 
Snider finished with a match-high 31 kills, the second straight match where she went over 30 kills. The Golden Knights made her work for the total, though, holding Snider to a .218 attack percentage.
 
Entering today's match, each of the previous three meetings between Gannon and Clarion, and five of the last seven contests, had gone to five sets. Today's contest made it four straight that went the distance, as the Golden Eagles took the first and third sets and the Golden Knights the second and fourth. The fifth set was another battle between the two teams, starting with a 4-1 run for Gannon. Snider cut it to 4-3 with a kill and Claire Bickett tied things up at 5-5 with a kill. The Golden Knights scored four of the next five points, taking a 9-6 lead after an error by Bickett, but a Lara Toruner service error and an ace by Haley Fledderjohann cut the deficit to 9-8. The duo of Finley Kearney and Emily Klopp blocked Journey Blevins to again cut into the Golden Knights' lead, and Gannon errors on three of the next four points put the Golden Eagles ahead 12-11.
 
Snider helped her side take advantage of the opportunity, recording a kill to up the lead to 13-11. The senior outside hitter had answers on the final two points of the set as well, notching kills for the 15-11 set win and the match.
 
Snider had plenty of assistance in filling the score sheet. Klopp logged 13 kills and also tied for the team-high with six blocks, a total she shared with Kearney. Kearney had seven kills and six blocks. Fledderjohann had 25 digs and Lauren Fjerstad posted 22 digs, while Marisa Markou dished out 48 assists and logged 13 digs.
 
Gannon held a 21-18 lead in the first set, but a 5-0 run by the Golden Eagles put them right back into the game. Snider had kills on two straight points, and Kearney posted a kill to tie the set at 21-. She later solo-blocked Blevins, making it a 23-21 Clarion lead. Gannon scored three straight to go up 24-23 but Snider and Fjerstand responded with kills to extend the set. Snider later gave the Golden Eagles a 26-25 lead and Klopp finished off the set with a kill.
 
The Golden Knights led the second set for the majority, winning 25-15, but the Golden Eagles took the match lead with a significant run in the third set. Leading just 16-14, the Golden Eagles scored five straight points to make it 21-14, including a kill by Kearney to punctuate the run. She recorded a kill to make it 23-16 and Snider did the rest, posting back-to-back kills to finish the 25-17 win. Gannon again won big in the fourth set, going up 22-10 at one point en route to the victory.
 
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