CLARION UNIVERSITY QUALIFIES FOR PSAC PLAYOFFS

First outright PSAC Playoff berth since 1990

            Clarion’s 3-0 win over Slippery Rock Tuesday coupled with IUP’s 3-1 loss to Lock Haven clinched a PSAC Playoff berth for the Golden Eagles.

            It is Clarion’s first outright PSAC Playoff spot since the 1990 season, although the Golden Eagles (29-6 overall, 6-3 PSAC-West) qualified for a PSAC Play-in game in 1997 losing to Lock Haven.

            Clarion has qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs in each of the last two seasons, but in both years the Golden Eagles just missed PSAC Playoff spots.

            The Golden Eagles, who finish the regular-season Saturday at Edinboro, will most likely be either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed from the PSAC-West in the playoffs. For Clarion to be the No. 2 seed they need to either win or have California loose to Lock Haven. If Clarion loses and California wins, then the Golden Eagles will be the No. 2 seed. There is one complicated scenario that could find Clarion as the No. 1 seed and includes the scores of the Clarion-Edinboro and California-Lock Haven matches.  

            “We didn’t expect this coming into the season,” Clarion’s fourth-year head coach Tracey Fluharty said. “We lost three senior starters from last year’s team (which went 26-10 overall, 5-5 PSAC-West), and we weren’t sure how long it would take us to gel. We knew we had talented players coming back and talented players coming in, but we couldn’t predict how good we were going to be.”

            At the start of the year, Clarion looked like a team trying to find its identity going 7-5 in its first 12 games. But since then, the Golden Eagles have gone 22-1 with the lone loss coming to Lock Haven. Clarion has won nine straight games since that Lock Haven loss, which broke a 13-game winning streak.

            “I think they key to our success was finding seven players who could play together and get the job done,” Fluharty said. “At the start of the year we used a couple of different lineups and kept experimenting, and we got mixed results. Finally, we were able to discover seven, eight or nine players who can play together, and they put it all together on the court at the same time.”

            Fluharty also pointed to a team meeting after the 3-1 loss to Lock Haven Oct. 12 as another turning point.

            “After the Lock Haven match, we refocused on the important of winning and having fun vs. just having fun,” Fluharty said. “We all came to the conclusion that the best way to have fun is if we win. We had assurance of our ability and definitely knew we could do it. But a couple pieces of the puzzle were missing. We found them, and that is the reason why we have been so successful. Everyone on the team realizes when we win we can have a great season, have fun and enjoy playing. All of it’s happens at the same time.”

            Clarion’s run to the PSAC Playoffs has been a team effort with 10 players getting significant playing time.

            “Everyone is one the same page with wanting to win and they all accept playing whatever position in order to contribute to our success. Every day in practice someone is challenging someone else for playing time. That makes everyone on the team better.”

            Seniors Sara Heyl and Colleen Sherk and junior Ashley Kreiner lead Clarion’s offense.

            Heyl, an outside hitter, is the team leader in kills with 484 (4.14 per game), is tied for the team lead in service aces (34) ad is second in digs with 447 (3.82 per game). She has added 46 set assists and 63 blocks.

            Sherk, a middle hitter, is second on the team in kills with 475 (4.20 per game) and blocks with 96 (0.85 per game) and leads the team with a .405 hitting percentage.

            Kreiner in her first season as the Golden Eagles setter is on the verge of setting the school’s single-season record for set assists in a season. She currently has 1,544 (13.7 per game) and needs eight to tie Jackie Hill’s school record of 1,552. Kreiner is adding 115 kills, 12 services aces, 262 digs and 71 blocks.

            On defense, freshman Vicky Gentile, the Libero, has already set the school record for digs in a season with 637 (5.40 per game). She is adding 23 service aces. Junior middle hitter Karen Stoklosa is adding 223 kills, 31 service aces, 88 digs and a team-high 184 blocks (1.61 per game).

            Additional key contributors to Clarion’s success include senior Tonya Zatko (149 kills, 37 blocks, 31 digs), sophomore defensive specialist Jenn Sacco (334 digs), sophomore hitter/defensive player Heather Bryne (61 kills, 34 service aces, 332 digs) and freshmen outside hitters Christina Steiner (153 kills, 23 blocks) and Sarah Fries (146 kills, 32 blocks).

            GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – The PSAC Playoffs will be Nov. 12 and 13 at the highest seed from the PSAC-West, which will most likely either be Lock Haven or California ... In the quarterfinals, the No. 2 team from the West will play the No. 3 team from the East and the No. 2 team from the East will play the No. 3 team from the West. Both games will be Nov. 12 starting at 10 a.m. The semifinals starting at 5 p.m. Nov. 12 will pit the No. 1 from the East playing the winner of the West-2 vs. East-3 game and the No. 1 seed from the West playing the winner of the East-2 vs. West-3 game … The Championship game will be played Saturday … Clarion last won the PSAC title in 1988 … Fluharty is 109-37 (74.7 percent) in four years at Clarion including 21-18 (53.8 percent) in PSAC-West play.

Head Coach Tracey Fluharty

Sr., OH Sara Heyl

Sr. MH Colleen Sherk

Jr. Setter Ashley Kreiner