JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Taylor Braunagel had 15 kills, Marissa Robertson 13 kills and 16 digs, Kaley Pittsley 43 assists, and Morgan Seybold 24 digs, but it wasn’t enough on Saturday night as the Golden Eagles lost a hard-fought PSAC Women’s Volleyball Championship to Shippensburg at Pitt-Johnstown by a 3-1 margin.
Played at the Sports Center on the UPJ campus, Shippensburg won the first set 25-17, then the Eagles rallied for an exciting 29-27 win in set two. The third set was close throughout but ship won 25-21 and the Raiders won the fourth set 25-20 to take the title.
Clarion has an overall record of 21-16, while Shippensburg has a mark of 30-8.
Down a set, Clarion rallied for an exciting win 29-27 win in set 2. Down 5-3 early, five straight Eagle points put Clarion ahead 8-5. Marissa Robertson led the way in the run with 3 kills. Another Robertson kill in the middle of the set had Clarion ahead 16-11, but Ship rallied and saw the set tied at 24, 25, 26 and 27. Taylor Braunagel stepped in and scored two successive kills on assists from Kaley Pittsley and the Eagles were 29-27 winners.
In set three Clarion was in front 13-11 when Gabrielle Olson and Braunagel teamed up on a block, but ship scored six straight for a 17-13 lead. Clarion fought back to within 20-19 on kills from Olson and Mackenzie Biggs, but the Raiders pulled out the set 25-21.
The fourth and final set actually had Clarion ahead 15-11 – after a kill from Olson, and again ahead 18-15 after a Robertson kill. Ship took the lead for good, 19-18, on a kill from Morgan DeFloria and never looked back to win the set 25-20 and the PSAC title.
Abbey Cox contributed 8 kills, Mackenzie Biggs 7 kills, and Gabrielle Olson 6 blocks.
Clarion will now await a potential NCAA Playoff bid. The selections for the 2015 NCAA Championships will be announced on November 23rd at 7:30pm via web stream on NCAA.com. Led by 9th year head coach Jen Mills, the Golden Eagles have been invited to the NCAA Playoffs in each of the last 6 seasons. Clarion won the Regional in 2010 and advanced to the Elite 8.
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