CLARION, Pa. --- The Golden Eagles volleyball team opened up their season at home with a pair of wins on Friday, defeating Shippensburg 3-1 and Davis & Elkins 3-0 in their first two matches of the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament.
 
Action at the tournament concludes tomorrow when the Golden Eagles host Findlay at 4 p.m.
 
Clarion 3, Shippensburg 1 (25-20, 25-15, 24-26, 25-14)
 
RECAP: The Golden Eagles went back and forth with the Raiders in the first set of the day, pulling away later on to take the critical game. Clarion sparked the run with strong play at the net, starting with a Charlie Allison solo block against Isabelle Bombas. That was one of nine total team blocks for Clarion in the match, and broke a 15-15 tie in the process. Julia Shaw capped the run with a kill that made it 19-15, and consecutive errors by Shippensburg at the end of the set gave Clarion a 25-20 win.
 
The other two Golden Eagle set wins were more lopsided. Clarion opened up a 13-5 lead in the second set that included back-to-back aces from Shaw and kills from Emily Klopp and Raegan Stader. Cassidy Snider made it 17-8 with a kill and the duo of Stader and Finley Kearney made it a 10-point set with a block against Maddie Clabaugh. Snider put the set away with two straight kills, making it 25-15. In the fourth set, the Golden Eagles turned a 9-6 deficit into an 18-10 lead with a 12-1 run, with Klopp capping things with a solo block. Now firmly in control, Clarion's Lauren Fjerstad finished off the match with an ace.
 
Snider posted a match-high 17 kills and hit .302 in the process, committing just four errors on 43 attempts. Stader also broke double-digits in kills, recording 10 in her Golden Eagle debut. Barto made her first career start at setter and logged 44 assists and eight digs, while Haley Fledderjohann led the team with 14 digs.
 
Clarion 3, Davis & Elkins 0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-11)
 
RECAP: Clarion made short work of the Senators in the nightcap, hitting .350 as a team while holding Davis & Elkins to an .077 attack percentage. The Golden Eagles were also dominant at the service line, dishing up 12 total aces. Three of those came in succession to wrap up the third set and the match, with setter Macee Anway serving up a trio of aces in the final three points. Fjerstad contributed four aces herself, as well as eight digs.
 
Snider once again paced the Golden Eagles offense, contributing 16 kills on 28 attempts with just one error for a .538 attack percentage. Now with 1,486 career kills, she finds herself in striking distance of surpassing Kellie Bartman's 1,497 career kills and moving into third place on the program's all-time list.
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first set, including a 6-0 run to start that was capped with a kill by Charlie Allison. Snider ripped off three straight kills to make it 9-1, and Barto made it a 15-9 advantage with a tip kill. Emily Klopp forced set point with a kill and eventually Clarion took the set on an error by the Senators, making it 25-15. Things continued to go the Golden Eagles' way in the second set as they established another big lead, this time reaching a 19-9 advantage after Allison and Snider combined for a block. Anway logged back-to-back aces to force set point, and Snider put down a kill for the 2-0 match lead.
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