WHEELING, W.Va. --- The Golden Eagles volleyball team earned a split on the final day of the Atlantic Region Crossover, defeating Fairmont State by a 3-0 score before falling to the hosting Wheeling Cardinals 3-0 in the late match.
 
Clarion 3, Fairmont State 0 (25-23, 25-22, 26-24)
 
RECAP: The first match of the day was a clean sweep for the Golden Eagles, who took a trio of tight sets with the Falcons en route to their fourth straight win. Once again Clarion held a pronounced advantage at the net, out-blocking Fairmont State 11-2 and limiting them to a .093 attack percentage.
 
Despite those advantages the scores of each of the three sets were tight. Clarion got out to a 9-3 lead in the first set, closing their early run when Cassidy Snider and Olivia Ishmael combined to block Josie Nobbe. The Golden Eagles won the race to 15 points when Ishmael solo-blocked Joey Borelle and Snider delivered a kill, and Emily Klopp delivered kills on back-to-back points to make it a 22-16 lead. Finley Kearney and Klopp recorded kills to give Clarion a 24-18 edge, but the Falcons rallied with five straight points to make it a game. Snider let it get no further, ripping a kill on set point for the win.
 
The Falcons were the ones to get off to the early lead in both the second and third sets, but the Golden Eagles pulled themselves off the mat in both sets for the sweep. Clarion trailed 13-8 in the second set before pulling off a 5-0 run to tie it, punctuating the run with back-to-back blocks. Savannah Taosoga tied the set at 18 with a kill and sparked a 3-0 run that put the team ahead 20-18, and the duo of Klopp and Kearney struck again to broke a 21-all tie with a block. A pair of Falcons errors forced set point and Snider again delivered, making it 25-22. In the third set, Fairmont State opened on a modest 7-3 run before Snider and Klopp tied things up at 11 with kills. The drama of the set came primarily at the end as the teams traded points late, with Borelle giving the Falcons a set point opportunity with a kill that made it 24-23. However, Borelle served into the next on the ensuing point to tie things up, and Snider bounced kills on back-to-back points for the win.
 
Snider finished the match with 17 kills, putting her over 1,600 for her career. Gabrielle Grdina continued her strong play with eight kills, while Klopp added five kills and two blocks. The setting duo of Marisa Markou and Kylie Barto combined for 38 assists.
 
Wheeling 3, Clarion 0 (20-25, 20-25, 21-25)
 
RECAP: The Golden Eagles' hot streak came to an end against the hosting Cardinals on Saturday night, with Wheeling holding off Clarion in a trio of close sets for the sweep victory. The Cardinals held the Golden Eagles to just a .103 attack percentage and delivered eight aces on the evening, compared to just two for Clarion. They also did an exceptional job digging Golden Eagles attacks, posting 61 digs compared to 41 for Clarion.
 
The first set with the Cardinals was close until relatively late, with the Golden Eagles reducing a four-point deficit to one after Klopp and Kearney blocked Riley Kindall to cut the deficit to 18-17. Wheeling responded with three straight points from there, going up 21-17 on a kill by Samantha Comer, and a Clarion error gave the Cardinals the set at 25-20. The Golden Eagles were the ones to jump to a quick start in the second set, going up 9-3 after a kill by Snider, and the senior outside hitter made it 10-6 with another kill a few points later. Clarion won the race to 15 after a kill by Kearney, and they still held a 19-18 advantage after a kill by Snider, but the Cardinals scored seven out of eight points to go up 23-19 en route to another set win.
 
The Golden Eagles went up 6-2 early in the third set, with Snider recorded two kills and a block in the early going. Once again they won the race to 15 points, with Haley Fledderjohann logging an ace on Kindall, but the Cardinals scored seven of the next eight to take a 19-16 lead. Ishmael pulled Clarion to within 22-21 with a kill but Wheeling responded with three straight.
 
Snider tied for the match-high with 20 kills, hitting .319 by committing only five errors on 47 attempts. Lauren Fjerstad had a team-high 11 digs.