CLARION TO FACE WEST CHESTER IN PSAC PLAYOFFS

Golden Eagles making first PSAC Playoff appearance since 2004

            The Clarion University women’s volleyball team will face West Chester in the opening round of the PSAC playoffs at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Shippensburg.

            Tickets are $7 for adults and $2 for non-PSAC institution students. Students from PSAC institutions will be admitted free with a valid student I.D.

The winner of the Clarion-West Chester match will take on host Shippensburg, the top seed from the PSAC-East, at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. The championship match is set for 4 p.m. Saturday at Shippensburg.

            Clarion (25-4 overall, 7-3 PSAC-West), the second place team out of the PSAC-West, is making its first PSAC playoff appearance since 2004.

            “We are excited to be in the PSAC Playoffs,” first-year head coach Jennifer Harrison said. “We want to do well, and we believe that if we play our best, we can be very successful.”

            Clarion owns a win over West Chester (28-9 overall, 6-4 PSAC-East), the third-place team out of the PSAC-East, beating the Golden Rams 3-0 (30-14, 30-22, 30-25) Sept. 29 at West Chester.

            “It’s good and bad that we have already played them,” Harrison said. “It could go either way. They are a strong team. Hopefully, our players understand the importance of how strong we have to play to beat West Chester. They are a nice team with some young players, and we will have to play well if we want to beat them.”

            Clarion enters the PSAC playoff having won three straight, all by 3-0 scores, and eight of its last nine matches. The Golden Eagles claimed second place in the PSAC-West with a 3-0 (30-22, 30-22, 30-18) win at home over Edinboro Saturday in a second-place showdown.

            “It is definitely nice going into the playoffs with the confidence of knowing we are playing well,” Harrison said. “But anything can happen once the matches start. Everyone in the playoffs is good.”

            Clarion, which as won 20 or more games seven straight season and has qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs in four of the past five seasons including last year, is a senior dominated team.

            The top three hitters – Christina Steiner, Sarah Fries and Amanda Angermeier – are all four-year players, while setter Kristi Fiorillo, Libero Vicky Gentile and middle hitter Tressa Dvorsky are all seniors.

            Steiner leads the PSAC in kills per game (4.48; 412 total) while adding 3.85 digs per game (354 total digs). A second-team PSAC-West selection last season, she is one of three players in school history with 1,000 career kills (1,270) and 1,000 career digs (1,065) and ranks third in school history in kills and 11^th in digs.

            Fries is fourth in the PSAC in kills (3.96 per game; 356 total) while adding 2.99 digs per contest (269 total digs). Her 1,175 career kills puts her fifth in school history.

            Fiorillo leads the PSAC in assists per game (12.75; 1,186 total) while adding 274 digs (2.95 per game). She is sixth in school history in career helpers with 2,617 despite only being the starting setter for two seasons.

            Gentile, Clarion’s all-time digs leader with 2,412, is second in the PSAC in digs per game at 5.99. She holds four of the top six single-season dig marks in a season at Clarion, and her 557 this year ranks sixth in a season at Clarion.

            Angermeier is third on the team in kills 227 (2.58), while Dvorsky, who recently has seen her playing time increase, has 27 kills and 25 blocks in just 39 games.

            Clarion has also gotten key contributions from three underclassmen including two freshmen – middle hitters Nicole Andrusz and Sarah Sheffield – and a sophomore – defensive specialist Katie Aurand.

            Andrusz has been a starter all season and ranks in the Top 10 in the PSAC in hitting percentage (.280) while contributing 168 kills (1.81 per game) and a team-leading 64 blocks.

            Sheffield has added 94 kills (1.21 per game) and is tied with Fries for second on the team with 58 blocks, and Aurand has 150 digs (1.92 per game).

            West Chester, which has won four in a row and five of six, is led by senior outside hitter Kristen Decker, one of just two seniors on its roster.

Decker is averaging 3.78 kills per game, the top mark in the PSAC-East and the sixth best mark in the PSAC. She also ranks seventh in the PSAC in digs per game with 4.37.

Freshman middle hitter Michelle Powers is second on the team in average kills (2.83 per game) while adding 0.72 blocks per game, which is second for West Chester.

Junior setter Lisa Yeasted sets up the offense and is fifth in the PSAC in set assists per game (10.46) while adding 2.84 digs per contest.

Jacqueline Vivanco, a junior Libero, is third in the PSAC in digs per game with (5.51).

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – Clarion last won the PSAC Title in 1988 … The Golden Eagles are looking for their first PSAC Playoff win since beating West Chester 3-0 in the third-place game in 1990 … Clarion’s last opening round PSAC playoff victory came in 1989 when the Golden Eagles knocked off East Stroudsburg 3-0 … Clarion was ranked third in the latest NCAA Atlantic Region poll and has a shot at its fifth NCAA Division II playoff appearance since 2002 … The 25 wins are tie for the fifth most in school history (Clarion has won 25 or more games seven times) and the 86.2 percent winning percentage is believed to be the second best in school history.  

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

(all matches at Shippensburg)

FRIDAY, NOV. 9

First Round

10 a.m. – No. 3 West Edinboro vs. No. 2 East Kutztown

12:30 p.m. – No. 3 East West Chester vs. No. 2 West Clarion

Semifinals

5 p.m. – Edinboro-Kutztown winner vs. No. 1 West California

7:30 p.m. – West Chester-Clarion winner vs. No. 1 East Shippensburg

SATURDAY, NOV. 10

4 p.m. – Championship match