CLARION’S GENTILE, STEINER NAMED AVCA ATLANTIC ALL-REGION

Fries chosen as an honorable mention selection

            Clarion University senior volleyball players Vicky Gentile (Euclid, Ohio/Villa Angela-St. Joseph) and Christina Steiner (Florence, KY/Ryle) were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Atlantic All-Region team Tuesday.

            Additionally, fellow senior Sarah Fries (Willard, Ohio/Willard) was an honorable mention selection.

            Gentile, Clarion’s all-time leader in digs (2,559) ranked second in the PSAC this season in digs per game (6.29) while recording 704 digs, the second most in a season school history. She set the school record for digs in a season in 2004 with 711 and also ranks fourth (tie – 577) and sixth (567) in single-season digs at Clarion. A second-team PSAC-West selection this season, Gentile was a 2004 second-team Daktronics Atlantic Region selection.

            For Steiner, the AVCA All-Region honor is her second this season. She was also a second-team Daktronics Atlantic Region selection as well as a PSAC-West first-team choice. On the season, she was second in the PSAC in kills per game (4.29) and finished the year with 476 kills while adding 432 digs (3.89 per game). She finished her career as one of just three players in school history with 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs and ranks third in Clarion history in kills with 1,334 and 11^th in digs (1,143).

            Fries, who was a first-team Daktronics All-Region choice and a PSAC-West first-team selection, is an AVCA Honorable Mention winner after a senior season that saw her rank fourth in the PSAC in kills per game 3.94. She had 430 kills to go along with 361 digs (3.31 per game), 69 blocks and 54 service aces. She finished her career with the fourth most kills in school history (1,249) while adding 713 career digs, 152 blocks and 89 service aces.

            Behind the play of Gentile, Steiner and Fries, Clarion finished with a 28-6 overall record and 7-3 PSAC-West record this season, the school’s first NCAA Division II Playoff win and a second-place finish in both the PSAC and PSAC-West. It was Clarion’s highest PSAC finish since taking second in 1989, while the 28 wins are the third most in school history.

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – Clarion’s 3-1 win over Lees-McRae in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament Thursday was the first NCAA Playoff victory in school history. The Golden Eagles well to Edinboro 3-1 in the second round Friday … Clarion won the PSAC Title in 1988 … Golden Eagle first-year head coach Jennifer Harrison’s 28 wins are a school record for a first-year mentor.