Clarion University Volleyball: Golden Eagles Sink Mercyhurst at Home in 3-1 Win

Joanne Bauer

Joanne Bauer

Published October 31, 2021 4:15 am
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CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle volleyball team capped off an important two-match weekend with a victory on Saturday, defeating Mercyhurst 3-1 (25-20, 25-12, 23-25, 25-16) for a crucial win in the tight PSAC West playoff race.

Clarion (17-7, 9-3 PSAC West) overcame a third-set victory by the Lakers to make quick work of their opponent in the fourth game.

With the win, Clarion remains tied with Gannon for second place in the PSAC West, though they hold the tiebreaker over the Golden Knights thanks to last night’s 3-0 sweep victory. With a win over the Lakers on Saturday, the Golden Eagles swept the season series with Mercyhurst and put further distance between themselves and the teams currently out of the playoff picture.

Clarion middles feasted for the second straight match as Alyson Peters and Lauren Aichinger were efficient and deadly on offense. Aichinger went off for 12 kills on 23 attempts with just four errors for a .348 attack percentage, while Peters added eight kills and a .462 hitting mark. That opened up room for Cassidy Snider on the outside, who posted a match-high 17 kills, and London Fuller finished with 42 assists. Abigail Selfridge had 23 digs.

Mercyhurst built an 11-8 lead in the first set before the Golden Eagles roared back with five straight points, including kills on three consecutive points by Aichinger, to make it 13-11. It was all even at 17 before Snider solo-blocked Paige Miller to break the deadlock, and Clarion stretched the lead to 23-19. Snider and Peters then combined to block Hailey Wilson on set point for the 25-20 set win. The second set was a runaway win for the Golden Eagles, who scored nine of 10 points at one juncture to take a 24-11 lead. Julia Piccolino had the set winner in that one, taking a feed from Fuller and converting it for the kill.

The Lakers turned the tables in the third set with a set win, though Clarion showed resilience in battling back from a 23-19 deficit to pull even at 23 on three straight kills by Snider. Mercyhurst responded with two points of their own to take the set 25-23. Things started close in the fourth before Clarion pulled away, with the Golden Eagles scoring four straight to take an 11-7 edge. Aichinger made it 20-13 with a kill, and ultimately Mercyhurst committed an error on match point to finish things off.

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