CALIFORNIA, Pa. — For just the fourth time since 1976, the Clarion University women’s volleyball team has started the season 6-0 after sweeping a pair of matches at the California (Pa.) Tournament Friday.(Photo on left: Abbey Cox.)
The Golden Eagles started the day with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-22) win over Caldwell and then swept past Cedarville 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 27-25).
COX, BRAUNAGEL LEAD OFFENSE IN WIN OVER CALDWELL
In the Caldwell match, freshman Taylor Braunagel and junior Abbey Cox each recorded 10 kills to lead the Clarion offense with Cox hitting an incredible .526 (10 kills, 0 errors, 19 attempts) for the match. Braunagel, meanwhile added nine digs.
Also for the Golden Eagles, Mackenzie Biggs chipped in with nine digs and three blocks, while 6-foot-3 freshman middle hitter Gabrielle Olson had seven kills and seven blocks. Carlie Bieranowski added six kills, nine digs and two blocks with setter Laura Subject running the offense with 35 set assists while adding nine digs and five kills.
On defense, Morgan Seybold had 33 digs with 25 of them coming over the final two sets including 15 in the third set, while Morgan Herold added 13 digs.
Biggs and Olson led the way in the first set of the match with five kills and four kills respectively, while Cox and Braunagel each recorded eight kills over the final two sets with Cox delivering five in the second set and Braunagel six in the third set. Olson had four of her blocks in the third set.
Clarion’s defense shutdown Caldwell’s attack limiting the Cougars to a .045 hitting percentage (22-16-134).
BALANCED EFFORT LEADS GOLDEN EAGLES PAST CEDARVILLE
A couple of hours after the conclusion of the Caldwell match, Clarion rode a balanced effort offensively and defensively to the win over Cedarville.
Three Golden Eagles led the way on offense with seven kills each with two more chipping in six kills, while four Clarion players were in double digits in digs.
Cox, Bieranowski and Biggs each had the seven kills with Cox again on fire hitting .583 in the match (7-0-12). Olson and Braunagel each added six kills with Olson recording five more blocks.
On defense, Seybold once again led the way with 26 digs, while Mattison Thornton had 13, Catherine Ferragonio 11 and Bieranowski 10. Biggs chipped in with four blocks. Subject again ran the offense with 29 set assist while adding seven digs and three blocks.
Bieranowski was big early on with all seven of her kills coming in the first two sets including four in the first set, while Cox was the leader late with six of her seven kills coming over the final two sets with four in the third set when she hit .800 (4-0-5).
Clarion returns to action with a pair of matches Saturday at California. The Golden Eagles face Fairmont St. at 10 a.m. and Rollins at 2 p.m.
NOTES – This is the second straight year the Golden Eagles are 6-0 after their first six matches and the third time under head coach Jennifer Mills, who guided Clarion to a 14-0 start last year and a 12-0 start in 2007. The Golden Eagles also started the 2002 campaign 9-0 … With the 64 set assists, Subject now has 2,913 in her career, the fifth most in school history.
