Clarion's Postseason History

CLARION – In a rematch of the 2009 PSAC semifinals, the Clarion University women's volleyball team will travel to Lock Haven for a 7:30 p.m. PSAC semifinal match Friday.  
 
The Golden Eagles, the third seed from the PSAC West, lost that 2009 semifinal match but haven't lost a PSAC playoff match since going 4-0 including 3-0 last year on their way to the school's second PSAC Title and 1-0 this year after a hard-fought 3-2 win at Edinboro in the quarterfinals Tuesday night.
 
“The No. 1 thing we need to do is stay healthy,” Clarion's fifth-year head coach Jennifer Mills said. “No. 2 is honestly take it one game at a time. I'm not worried about a championship. I'm more worried about Lock Haven. Lock Haven is playing much better than when we saw them the first time this year.”
 
Clarion, who went all the way to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight a year ago, and Lock Haven, the top seed from the PSAC East who beat Shippensburg 3-0 in the quarterfinals, are no strangers to each other having both been members of the PSAC West until Lock Haven was moved to the East in 2008. The teams have still met yearly as part of the PSAC Crossover play, and the Golden Eagles came out with a 3-0 win Oct. 7 at Millersville.
 
“Yes, we beat them,” Mills said. “But they are a big, physical team and a well-coached team. They attack well. They are big. They block well. Their strengths are definitely offense and blocking. They have also have strong serving especially from one or two players. One of the things they did well vs. Shippensburg was serve well and make Shippensburg struggle to find offensive rhythm. We will be ok if we are able to run our offense. But if we are struck running one or two hitters throughout the entire match, we are going to be in for a long evening.”  
 
The victory over Lock Haven in October started Clarion's turnaround in the 2011 season. At the time, the Golden Eagles entered the match 8-9 overall and 4-4 in the PSAC West and had lost three in a row. But starting with the victory over the Lock Haven Clarion won 10 straight PSAC matches and 11 of 13 overall to close the regular season and start the playoffs.
 
“I think we needed that confidence,” Mills said. “We had just come off a very poor five-set loss against Millersville, and we had some nice heart-to-heart conversations with a lot of our players and as a group with our team. At that point, we hadn't experienced a loss like that in a while, and with where we were it was now or never. But we don't have that same motivation of coming off a tough loss this time. Again, it's a different situation. Its playoffs time at their place, and I'm sure they will have a great crowd.  We need to stay consistent.”  
 
One of the reasons Clarion has played better over the last month is because the Golden Eagles have reduced the number of mistakes they are making. In the first 17 matches, Clarion averaged 9.71 errors (attack, service and receive) per set and in the past 13 matches that number has been reduced to 7.44.
 
“We are making the girls much more responsible for their development,” Mills said. “We are asking them a lot of questions where we want them to discover the answers instead of us just handing it to them. In addition, they have been much more cognizant of some of the little things they are doing that are causing those errors. I also think we have tried to refocus them in certain situations during the match. I think one of the biggest issues early on was we weren't maintaining strong focus. I think that has changed a lot.”  
 
As a result of the reduction in errors, Clarion is also hitting the ball better attacking at a .220 clip during the 11-2 run compared to a .184 pace when it was 8-9.
 
“It's a lot better,” Mills said. “We are putting a lot more balls down in the court. We are forcing other teams to give us the ball back, and we are defending the ball better.”
 
On offense, Clarion is paced by senior outside hitters Kellie Bartman (3.54 kills per set; 2.25 digs per set) and Kaitlyn Anderson (2.54 kps, 52 service aces), sophomore hitter Hannah Heeter (2.06 kps, 68 blocks), junior middle hitter Rebecca Webb (1.66 kps, 73 blocks), sophomore middle hitter Corinne Manley (1.79 kps, 54 blocks) and sophomore outside hitter Aubree Frye (0.95 kps, 1.65 dps).
 
Senior setter Amanda Gough sets the Golden Eagle offense up and averages 9.41 set assists per set while adding 2.5 dps, 68 kills and 50 blocks.
 
Senior Libero Rhianon Brady (5.86 dps), the school's all-time leader in digs, and senior defensive specialist Kayla Rodak (1.34 dps) also play vital roles for Clarion.
 
Lock Haven is led by the PSAC's kills leader Gao Xaun (4.26 kps, .311 hitting percentage, 2.02 dps, 55 blocks), Haley Gribler (2.55 kps, 2.44 dps, 1.02 blocks per set), Bailey Farthing (2.23 kps), Erin Walsh (4.71 dps) and Alex Garrity (10.26 saps).
 
NOTES – The winner of Friday's match will play the winner of the 5 p.m. semifinal between West Chester (PSAC East 3) and California (PSAC West 1) in the PSAC Championship match at 5 p.m. Saturday at Lock Haven … Admission to the PSAC Semifinals and Finals is $7 per day for adults, $2 for students without a valid PSAC ID and free for students with a PSAC ID … Clarion is looking for its fifth trip to the PSAC Championship match. The Golden Eagles are 2-2 in PSAC Championship tilts winning in 1988 and 2010 and losing in 1989 and 2004 … Clarion is in the PSAC Tournament for the 11^th time in school history. The Golden Eagles are 12-10 in PSAC Playoff matches including 5-4 on the road … This is the third time Clarion and Lock Haven have met in the postseason. In addition to its win in the 2009 PSAC semifinals, the Lady Eagles also defeated Clarion 3-0 in a 1997 PSAC Play-in contest … The Golden Eagles haven ever won a postseason match at Lock Haven going 0-6 all-time … Clarion has beaten Lock Haven in two of its last three matches in Lock Haven topping the Lady Eagles during the 2010 regular season and 2007 regular season and losing in the 2009 semifinals.