CLARION CLAIMS PSAC PLAYOFF SPOT

            The Clarion University women’s volleyball team has qualified for the PSAC Playoffs for the first time since 2004.

            The Golden Eagles (22-4 overall, 5-3 PSAC-West) garnered the playoff spot thanks to Lock Haven’s 3-2 loss to Slippery Rock Tuesday. Clarion is tied for second place in the PSAC-West with Edinboro. California won the PSAC-West title with a 3-0 win over Clarion Tuesday making the Vulcans 8-0 with two games left. The top three teams from the PSAC-West qualify for the PSAC Playoffs. Clarion can finish no worse than 5-5 in the PSAC-West, while Lock Haven, the fourth-place team, can finish no better than 5-5. Clarion holds the tiebreaker over the Bald Eagles thanks to a sweep of the season series.

            Clarion can still finish second in the PSAC-West if it wins its final two conference games (at IUP Tuesday; home to Edinboro Nov. 3).  

            “We are excited that we have qualified for the PSAC Playoffs,” Clarion’s first-year head coach Jennifer Harrison said. “The players have worked very hard to get to this point. At the same time, we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. We still have a couple of important regular-season games left, and we would like to finish the regular season strong.”

            The PSAC Playoffs will be held Nov. 9-10 at the site of the PSAC-East winner. Shippensburg currently holds a 1-game lead in the PSAC-East over Kutztown.

            GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – Clarion, which has won at least 20 games in each of the past seven seasons, has qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs in four of the past five years including last season … The Golden Eagles return to action Friday when they host Barton at 7 p.m. in a non-conference match … The PSAC Playoffs will consist of six teams – three from the PSAC-West and three from the PSAC-East – playing in a single-elimination tournament with the top seeds from each division get a first-round bye.