CLARION, Pa. — The Golden Eagle volleyball team fell to one of the hottest teams in the PSAC West on Saturday, dropping a 3-2 (19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 9-15) decision to IUP for the latter's 10th straight win.
Raegan Stader scored a team-high 20 points on 18 kills and four block assists.
Taylor Haupt collected 19 digs and added 10 kills.
Cara Vandeborne posted eight total blocks, including two solo stops, and chipped in three kills.
Marisa Markou finished with 26 assists, 13 digs, and a service ace.
The Golden Eagles could not erase the Crimson Hawks' early separation in the first set, despite a late push, and dropped the set 25-19. Earlier, Haupt put the Golden Eagles on the board with a kill from Markou, and Stader answered early Crimson Hawks points with two kills as the Golden Eagles stayed within 5-3. The Crimson Hawks stretched the lead to 12-5, but Vandeborne and
Emily Klopp combined on a block before
Natalie Karrick's kill from
Lauren Fjerstad moved the Golden Eagles to 12-7. After the Crimson Hawks reached 18-10, Stader put down a kill and Karrick served consecutive aces to bring the Golden Eagles to 18-13. The Golden Eagles added late points on kills by
Finley Kearney and Haupt and a Haupt-Vandeborne block, but the Crimson Hawks closed the set on Sammy Stephens' kill.
The Golden Eagles turned an early surge into a 25-19 second-set win, building a 10-3 lead behind two Kearney kills from Karrick and points from Klopp, Haupt, and Vandeborne. The Crimson Hawks cut the margin to 16-12 with four straight points, but Stader answered with a kill from Haupt, and Klopp added another kill soon after to make it 18-14.
Kalina Powell gave the Golden Eagles separation at the service line with back-to-back aces, and a bad set by the Crimson Hawks followed for a 21-14 Golden Eagles lead. Karrick added a late kill from Markou before a Crimson Hawks service error and Haupt's set-closing kill finished the set.
The Golden Eagles used an early eight-point response and held off repeated Crimson Hawks pushes to take the third set, 25-23. After falling behind 2-0, Stader put the Golden Eagles on the board with a kill from Karrick, and Fjerstad followed with seven straight service points that included two Haupt kills and a Klopp kill for an 8-2 lead. The Crimson Hawks closed the gap to 10-9 and later tied the set at 15-15, but the Golden Eagles kept answering with front-row points from Karrick, Kearney, and Vandeborne, along with blocks involving Karrick, Vandeborne, Stader, and Kearney. Vandeborne added a kill and teamed with Stader on a block as the Golden Eagles moved ahead 22-19, and after the Crimson Hawks tied it again at 22-22 and 23-23, Kearney's kill from Markou set up the final point before a visitor attack error closed the set.
The Golden Eagles erased a 17-15 deficit and later moved in front 22-21, but the Crimson Hawks scored the final four points to take the fourth set, 25-22. Earlier, the Golden Eagles answered a 4-3 deficit with kills from Karrick and Stader, a block by Stader and Vandeborne, and another Stader kill before Vandeborne's kill made it 8-5. The Crimson Hawks came back to tie the set at 9-9 and built a 17-14 edge, with the Golden Eagles getting a Haupt kill, a Klopp kill, and a Markou ace during that middle stretch. The Golden Eagles' late push included a Karrick block, kills by Stader and Kearney to go ahead 18-17, and additional kills from Stader, Kearney, and Klopp that put the Golden Eagles up 22-21 before the Crimson Hawks' closing run.
The Golden Eagles answered the Crimson Hawks' early points three times, getting kills from Stader and Kearney off Karrick assists before a Crimson Hawks service error tied the fifth set at 3-3. After Vandeborne's block brought the Golden Eagles within 5-4, the Crimson Hawks scored four straight points to move ahead 9-4. Stader added two more kills from Markou to keep the Golden Eagles within range, and the Golden Eagles made a late push from 12-6 to 12-9 on a Klopp kill, a Klopp-Kearney block, and a Kearney kill from Karrick. The Crimson Hawks took the final three points, closing the set at 15-9.
