CLARION, Pa. (D9Sports) — Clarion head volleyball coach Shari Campbell likes to test her team late in the season with matches against bigger schools.

(Maddie Schill had 13 kills in the win for Clarion Monday. Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)

Round One of a two-round test against bigger teams from the center of the Commonwealth was passed with flying colors for the Lady Cats Monday thanks to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 25-19) win over visiting Altoona.

“It’s very important,” Campbell said about getting the victory for the team’s confidence heading towards the playoffs. “In tournament play, we have been splitting (with bigger opponents). It’s just good to come out with a win in this point of the year. It builds your confidence and what we can do at the Single A level.”

Watch Campbell’s full comments on the win.

A couple of underclassmen led the attack for Clarion Monday with junior Maddie Schill recording a team-high 13 kills and freshman Korrin Burns adding 11.

Schill was at her best in the middle two sets when she led the Lady Cats with 10 kills — three in the second and seven in the third. It was also her kill in the fourth set with Clarion leading one just a single point, 14-13, after three straight Altoona points that ended up propelling the Lady Cats to the set and match victory.

“We all just came out really strong,” Schill said. “We got pumped up before the game. We really thought this was an important game to win. We just came out strong and worked together, and it worked really well.”

Watch Schill’s full comments.

While Schill, who added a pair of blocks and 11 digs, and Burns led the offense, they weren’t alone with Dorothy Kalinowski and Kait Constantino each chipping in with five kills.

A pair of Kalinowski’s kills came early in the match helping Clarion race out to a 7-2 lead in the first set.

The Lady Cats never trailed in the set building the advantage to 20-10 on a Brenna Campbell ace, one of six aces for the sophomore setter who also had 30 set assists and 12 digs in an all-around strong match.

Clarion’s lead got to as many as 11, 22-11, after a pair of Altoona errors, but the Mountain Lions roared back with nine of the next 11 points to make things interesting at 24-20 before a Burns kill put the set away.

Bridgid Fox played a key role in the comeback finishing the set with six kills, including three during the late run.

Fox had a match-high 23 kills for Altoona.

Altoona had a stronger start to the second set and led 10-6 following a block and a kill from Ireland McClellan.

This time, it was Clarion’s turn to rally with the Lady Cats going on a 9-2 run that saw kills from Hailey Sintobin, Schill and Constantino and aces from Jordan Best and Campbell, who scored the final two points of the run on aces.

While Altoona was able to crawl back within a point, 19-18, after a Maggie Fox kill, three straight Mountain Lion errors followed by two kills by Scholl and an ace by Campbell put Clarion up 2-0.

Clarion looked poised to put the match away in the third set when it raced out to a 13-8 lead thanks in part to three kills and a block from Schill and two kills from Burns.

But this time it was Altoona’ turn to run with a pair of Bridgid Fox kills spearheading a 6-1 run that gave the Mountain Lions a 15-14 lead.

The set then went back-and-forth from there with seven ties and four lead changes before Altoona pulled out the 26-24 win when Constantino’s attack went wide.

Clarion had a chance to put the match away when it took a 24-23 lead on a Schill block, but Bridgid Fox tied it at 24 with a kill, and a Burns hitting error gave set point to the Mountain Lions.

The Lady Cats shook off the third-set loss by starting the fourth set with five straight points thanks to kills from Kalinowski, Constantino and Schill and a Campbell ace.

But Altoona scored the next seven points to take a 7-5 lead with Bridgid Fox accounting for three kills, and Katie Cumming a kill and a block.

A block by Maggie Fox kept Altoona in the lead, 9-8, but a tandem block from Burns and Sintobin started a 5-0 run that gave Clarion the lead for good, 13-9. Sintobin also had another block during the sequence.

Altoona was able to get back within a point, 14-13, following the three straight Clarion errors, but again it was the Schill kill that stopped the bleeding, and Schill added another kill to make it 18-14 before a Kalinowski kill made it 19-14.

Clarion eventually pushed the match to the brink on a tandem block from Ali Troese and Kalinowski that made it 24-16, and while Altoona got a pair of kills from Bridgid Fox and an error to make it 24-19, Ava Kiser’s dig fell hit the line to give Clarion it’s winning point.

Watch the final point.

The win improves Clarion to 11-1 on the year with Altoona falling to 6-6.

Clarion is back in action Tuesday at Venango Catholic before closing out its regular season by hosting State College Thursday.