ERIE, Pa. – The Golden Eagle volleyball team rebounded from a loss earlier this week with a 3-0 sweep on the road, defeating Mercyhurst 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-17) at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on Friday night.
Clarion (10-5, 2-1 PSAC West) lit up the stat sheet with a .287 hitting percentage for the match, including two sets at .333 or better, in defeating the Lakers.
The duo of Cassidy Snider and Julia Piccolino combined for 28 of Clarion’s 40 kills in the match, recording 16 and 12, respectively. Those two outside hitters committed just two errors – one apiece – on a combined 61 attempts, with Piccolino hitting .440 and Snider .417. With that pair bearing the offensive load against the Lakers, Clarion got the better of the Lakers to improve to 3-1 in road matches this year. London Fuller recorded 33 assists.
Defensively, Piccolino finished with the match-high in digs, recording 16 for her sixth double-double of the year. Aubrey Wrona was just behind her with 12 digs. Annie Koester finished the match with a team-high three blocks.
The Lakers were actually the ones getting the better of the Golden Eagles in the first set, taking an 11-8 lead after a 4-0 run. Clarion evened it up with a 3-0 run of their own, including back-to-back kills by Snider and a block from Snider and Koester that made it 12-12. It stayed back-and-forth until a 4-0 Clarion run late in the set put significant distance between the teams. Things went from a 21-19 lead to set point as Koester and Amy Regrut combined to block Paige Miller to make it 24-19. Regrut had the set winner, posting a kill at 25-20.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick lead in the second set, going ahead 11-5 after a 6-1 run was punctuated by an ace from Abigail Selfridge. The Lakers pulled to within 13-11, but Snider helped Clarion win the race to 15 with a kill, and Lauren Aichinger made it 20-15 with a kill of her own. Snider bounced the kill at set point to make it 25-20, and put the Golden Eagles ahead 2-0 in the match. Clarion went ahead 7-4 early in the third set on a kill by Piccolino, and the Golden Eagles went on a 5-0 run to push the lead to 21-15. Piccolino forced set point with a kill at 24-17, and Aichinger delivered the match point on the subsequent point.
