CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles volleyball team clinched a spot in the 2024 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament on Friday night, sweeping Seton Hill for a 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-23) win in Tippin Gym. Clarion increased their win streak to three games with the victory.
 
With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 8-3 in conference action on the season. Combined with a Slippery Rock loss at IUP earlier in the evening, Clarion ensured themselves a top-four spot in the West division and a trip to the postseason.
 
The implications carried beyond just postseason qualification but also potential seeding. The Golden Eagles picked up the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Griffins by virtue of sets won in the season series, with Clarion winning five and Seton Hill just two.
 
Taylor Haupt had one of her best matches of the season, going off for a match-high 18 kills and a .375 attack percentage. She committed just three errors on 40 attempts. Emily Klopp was also efficient, posting 10 kills and a .346 attack percentage. Olivia Ishmael contributed seven blocks as the Golden Eagles limited the Griffins to a .144 attack percentage.
 
All three sets were tightly contested, but it's possible the match hinged on a big Golden Eagle run midway through the first set. Seton Hill went up 9-5 early in the set and eventually upped that advantage to 19-13. Clarion scored three straight points to claw their way back in, starting with a kill by Klopp and including an ace by Haley Fledderjohann and a kill by Haupt.
 
The Griffins scored the next two to make it 21-16, but the tables turned quickly. Haupt recorded kills on four of the next five points, including a set-tying tally at 21-21, and an error by the Griffins' Catie Flohr briefly put the Golden Eagles ahead. Haupt and Cassidy Snider recorded kills on two of the next three points to make it 24-22 but the Griffins tied it up with two straight points of their own. An error by Paige Cole gave Clarion the opening they needed, as Ishmael solo-blocked Cole on set point for a 26-24 win.
 
The second set was a funhouse mirror image of the first, as this time Clarion saw an early lead evaporate. Klopp and Haupt had kills to make it 19-14 but Seton Hill responded with a 7-1 run to tie it up at 21. Ella Deeter recorded a kill to put the Griffins up 23-22 and Snider came back with two kills of her own to make it a 24-23 Clarion lead. Snider blocked Deeter to make it 25-24 and Haupt finished off the set, recording a kill on set point to make it 26-24.
 
Neither side garnered much separation from the other in the third set, with both teams trading blows on every other point. Savannah Schwarz gave Seton Hill a 22-21 lead late in the set but then committed an error on the following point, and Emily Klopp made it a 23-22 lead with a kill. Haupt finished off her terrific night with kills on back-to-back points to clinch the match.
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