CLARION, Pa. --- Head coach Jennifer Herron became the sixth volleyball coach in PSAC history to win 400 matches, and the Golden Eagles kicked off the 2024 divisional schedule with a 3-1 (25-19, 27-25, 17-25, 25-16) home win over California (PA) at Tippin Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
 
Already the all-time wins leader at Clarion, Herron continued her rise the all-time wins list in the history of the conference. Of the five coaches ahead of her on the list, three of them – Slippery Rock's Laurie Lokash, Shippensburg's Leanne Piscotty and Gannon's Matt Darling – are still active. With one more win, Herron will move into a tie for fifth place with Kutztown's John Gump, who totaled 401 wins from 1997-2021.
 
The Golden Eagles helped make the historic night by winning a pair of tight sets to open the night, and then pulling away for an impressive fourth set win. Cassidy Snider exploded for 28 kills, tied for the third-most in a four-set match in program history, and her third match of 25+ kills this year. She was as efficient as she was prodigious, hitting .344 on 64 attempts, and notched 16 digs for a double-double.
 
Despite Snider's gaudy numbers, the Golden Eagles did maintain a solid offensive balance. Freshman Gabrielle Grdina chipped in nine kills and a .333 attack percentage, while redshirt freshman Emily Klopp added eight kills and a .467 hitting percentage. Claire Bickett and Finley Kearney contributed seven and six kills, respectively. Defensively the Golden Eagles put up 10.0 team blocks, with Kearney and Olivia Ishmael each posting five total blocks. Haley Fledderjohann had a match-high 19 digs.
 
After setting the tone with a 25-19 first set win, the Golden Eagles survived a scare in the second set that could have set the match in a different direction. Clarion led 19-14 in the second set before the Vulcans put together a strong run. The Golden Eagles led 24-21 but the Vulcans staved off elimination with four straight points, including a kill by Anna-Marie Petricevic to put her team in the driver's seat. That point gave the Vulcans a 25-24 lead and the serve for the set, but Bickett kept her side alive with a roll shot for a kill. Kearney and Grdina stepped up for a huge block on Petricevic to make it 26-25, and Kearney closed the set with a kill for a 27-25 win.
 
The Vulcans carried the momentum from their bounce back in the second set into the third, controlling action at the net and winning the third by a 25-17 score. Determined not to allow the Vulcans any more momentum, the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 9-2 run in the fourth set, with Snider smashing kills on three consecutive points to close it out. Klopp and Kearney blocked Petricevic to make it 15-6, and Bickett added a kill to up the lead to double digits. Grdina made it 24-16 with a kill and Fledderjohann polished the set off with an ace, dropping one on the back line to end the match.
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