INDIANA, Pa. — The Golden Eagle volleyball team (15-6, 7-2 PSAC) took the first set on the road, but Clarion lost to IUP (17-4, 10-1 PSAC) by a match score of 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 22-25) on Friday, in a battle of the two teams atop the PSAC West entering this weekend's action.
Raegan Stader led the Golden Eagles with 14 kills and 15 points, adding two block assists. Natalie Karrick finished with 17 assists, 12 digs and eight kills while hitting .318. Kalina Powell recorded a team-high 15 digs and added seven assists. Taylor Haupt recorded eight kills, three service aces and 12 digs.
The Golden Eagles recovered from an early 3-0 deficit and closed the first set with a 25-20 win, finishing on Finley Kearney's kill from Karrick. Earlier, the Golden Eagles answered IUP's opening push with four straight points, including a Stader kill, a Haupt kill and two block-assisted points involving Emily Klopp and Kearney, to move ahead 4-3. The Golden Eagles built separation through the middle of the set as Karrick had three kills in a six-point stretch and later served during a three-point run that included another Stader kill and a Klopp-Kearney block for a 14-9 lead. The Crimson Hawks worked back within 21-19, but the Golden Eagles responded with back-to-back Stader kills, reached set point on a service error and finished the set at 25-20.
In the second set, Clarion built their best early stretch after falling behind 6-5, winning four straight points on an IUP service error, a Karrick kill, a Haupt ace and a Stader kill to move ahead 9-6. The Crimson Hawks answered to tie the set at 9-9, but the Golden Eagles continued trading points behind repeated swings from Stader and Haupt, with Stader's kill tying it at 20-20. After IUP moved in front 23-21, Haupt put down a kill and the Golden Eagles forced an attack error to even the set at 23-23. The Crimson Hawks took the final two points, however, and the Golden Eagles dropped the second set 25-23.
The Golden Eagles' biggest push in the third set came early on when they turned a 6-3 deficit into a 9-6 lead with Haupt at the service line. Stader had a kill and teamed with Cara Vandeborne on a block during that stretch, while the Golden Eagles also produced two aces and capitalized on IUP attack errors. The Crimson Hawks answered by moving back in front and later building a 19-12 advantage, but the Golden Eagles responded with four straight points behind a Kearney kill, a Haupt-Vandeborne block and a Vandeborne kill from Karrick to pull within 19-16. Haupt, Vandeborne and Stader added late kills for the Golden Eagles, but IUP took the final two points to close out the set, 25-19. The Golden Eagles' fourth-set push brought them back from a 7-0 deficit to within two points at 24-22, but IUP finished off a 25-22 set win.
