EDINBORO, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles volleyball team held off a late push from the home team on Friday night, winning a thrilling 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-17, 19-25, 15-9) decision over Edinboro at McComb Fieldhouse. Clarion rebounded from a slow first set to win two straight against the Fighting Scots, and then squashed a rally from Edinboro with a fifth-set win.
 
Facing off with a feisty Fighting Scots squad, the Golden Eagles rode the waves of momentum on Friday, catching the right one at the right time to come away with the win. After the Fighting Scots out-hit them .417 - .167 in the fourth set to push the match to five, it was Clarion's turn to fire up the offense. The Golden Eagles hit .381 in the fifth set, scoring nine of their 15 points via kill while holding the Fighting Scots to a .000 attack.
 
Clarion started that fifth set with kills on back-to-back points by Claire Bickett and Emily Klopp. Edinboro took a 4-3 lead but Klopp and Olivia Ishmael broke the tie with a block on Jessica Hardin, and Cassidy Snider recorded kills on two of the next three points to make it 7-5. Snider finished the match with a season-high 30 kills, giving her a combined 58 kills in two PSAC West matches.
 
The Fighting Scots pulled to within 10-8 midway through the set, but Clarion responded with four straight points to put themselves in the driver's seat. Karlee Berchtold, Finley Kearney and Bickett all posted kills, and setter Marisa Markou forced set point with an ace of Hardin. Edinboro eventually committed an error on match point.
 
Edinboro took the first set 25-20, pulling away with the set tied at 17 with eight of the next 11 points. Clarion kept things tight in the second set, coming back from an 11-8 hole to score four straight points and eventually seize the momentum. Snider put her team ahead with kills on three straight points, making it 12-11, and she helped her team win the race to 15 points with a kill that broke a 14-all time. The Fighting Scots whittled the lead to 22-21 on a kill by Hardin, but two straight points from the Golden Eagles – including a kill by Bickett – made it 24-21. Edinboro once again cut the lead down, this time with two straight points to make it 24-23, but Ishmael closed the set with a kill.
 
The Fighting Scots looked well-placed to take the 2-1 lead in the match when they opened the third set on an 8-2 run. The Golden Eagles slowly but surely pushed back, though, scoring four straight to cut it to 8-6 and eventually tying the score at 11-11 on a kill by Markou. Klopp and Ishmael blocked Hardin to make it 13-13, and Snider eventually put her team ahead 15-14 with a kill. That kill was part of a 6-0 run that all but decided the third set, and the Golden Eagles strung together five straight points at the end for a 25-17 set win.

Bickett finished with 13 kills, while Ishmael added six kills and four blocks. Haley Fledderjohann and Lauren Fjerstad each went over 20 digs, with the former recording 24 digs and the latter 22 digs. Kylie Barto logged a team-high 32 assists to go with 16 digs.
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