HILLSDALE, Mich. --- The Golden Eagles volleyball team concluded their weekend at the Net Results Invite hosted by Hillsdale on Saturday, with Clarion defeating Purdue Northwest 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 18-25, 25-16).
 
In stark contrast to the previous day's matches, the Golden Eagles' offense was humming against the Pride, with Clarion hitting .307 for the match. That included an impressive .500 attack percentage in the final set of the match, with the Golden Eagles committing just two errors on 16 attempts. Clarion effectively used a 6-2 offense, with Kylie Barto dishing out 24 assists and Marisa Markou 18 helpers.
 
The Golden Eagles also held a distinctive advantage at the service line. Clarion served up 13 aces on the day, with four coming from libero Haley Fledderjohann and three apiece from Markou and Lauren Fjerstad.
 
Cassidy Snider went off for a season- and match-high 25 kills, with the senior outside hitter leading a crew primarily made up of freshmen and sophomore. She committed just two errors on 41 attempts for a .561 attack percentage and also dug out 12 balls on defense. Finley Kearney added seven kills and hit .545.
 
The Golden Eagles embarked on a 6-0 run early in the first set to take a 12-4 lead, with Fledderjohann adding an ace and Raegan Stader kicking in a kill to punctuate the rally. The Pride pulled to within 12-11 with a run of their own, but Snider and Kearney added kills to stem the tide and make it 15-12. They contributed kills later in the set to make it 24-19, and Stader added another on set point to take the game.
 
In the second set, Kearney helped win the race to 10 points with a kill that made it 10-6, and Snider upped the lead to 15-12 with a kill in the middle of the set. The Pride pulled to within 19-18 on a Clarion service error, but the Golden Eagles scored six of the final eight points of the set to win 25-20.
 
Purdue Northwest took the third set, hitting .538 in that frame to cut into the Golden Eagles' lead and extend the match, but Clarion was not to be deterred. They took the first six points of the fourth set, punctuated by an ace from Fjerstad, and took a 10-5 lead after a kill by Stader. Markou capped off the race to 20 with an ace that gave the Golden Eagles a 20-14 lead, and the duo of Olivia Ishmael and Emily Klopp capped the win with a block on match point.
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