CLARION’S STEINER NAMED PSAC-WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK

            Clarion University senior outside hitter Christina Steiner (Florence, KY/Ryle) is the first PSAC-West women’s volleyball Player of the Week for the 2007 season.

            Steiner keyed a 6-0 start for the Golden Eagles, their best start since starting the 2002 season with a school-record nine straight opening-season wins.

In the six matches, she recorded 91 kills, 73 digs and 13 blocks while recording double-digit kills in five of the six matches and posting a .336 hitting percentage.

The highlights of her week came in a 3-0 win against the University of the Sciences Saturday at the Shippensburg Tournament when she had a season-high 25 kills to go along with 15 digs and Friday at Shippensburg when she had a season-high 20 digs to go with 18 kills in a 3-1 win over Anderson (SC). 

            In her career, Steiner now has 949 kills and 784 digs and ranks ninth in school history in kills. With 51 more kills, she will become the seventh player in school history with 1,000 in her career.

            The Golden Eagles return to action Friday and Saturday at the Carolina Challenge. They face Mars Hill at Noon and Lincoln Memorial at 4:30 p.m. Friday and Belmont Abbey at 11 a.m. and host Lees-McRae at 7 p.m. Saturday.

            GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – Clarion had two PSAC-West Players of the Week last year – Lauren Carter Oct. 18 and Sarah Fries Sept. 12 … In 2002 when Clarion won its first nine matches, the Golden Eagles went on to win a school-record 31 matches (31-5 overall, 7-3 PSAC-West) and qualified for the NCAA D-II Tournament for the first time in school history … Clarion is coming off a 20-12 mark last season, a season that saw the Eagles qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the past five seasons … The Golden Eagles are under the direction of first-year head coach Jennifer Harrison.