(Photo: Catherine Ferragonio)

Ferragonio, who has been one of Clarion’s starting defensive specialist all season, was moved into an outside-hitter role Friday because of an injury to regular-starter Carlie Bieranowski, and responded with 14 kills in two PSAC Crossover wins that day.

But she was just getting warmed up for Saturday morning when she hit .283 (17 kills, 4 errors, 46 attempts) while recording her first career double-double in helping Clarion (19-2 overall, 11-1 PSAC West) shake off a 25-21 first-set loss to take the final three sets, 25-16, 25-18, 25-14, from the visiting Golden Rams (12-9, 4-8) in another crossover match.

“In her collegiate debut going six rotations, I’m happy with the way she stepped up as a leader,” Clarion head coach Jennifer Mills said. “I knew she would play well, but she had a really outstanding match. It’s hard losing Carlie, but Catherine really helped us today.”

Ferragonio wasn’t the only Golden Eagle to step up Saturday morning.

Fellow freshman Taylor Brunagel continued her outstanding rookie campaign with 16 kills and three digs while hitting .244 (16-5-45). It matched her season-high in kills and marked the fourth consecutive match she was in double digits in kills and the 11th time in 14 matches she has been in double figures in kills — her low kill total during that time is seven. It was the 13th double-digit kill total of the year for Brunagel.

Also for Clarion, Mackenzie Biggs had 11 kills and four digs hitting .231 (11-5-26), freshman middle hitter Gabrielle Olson hit a match-best .412 while recording nine kills (2 errors, 17 attempts), two blocks and two digs and Abbey Cox had eight kills and five digs while hitting .318 (8-1-22).

Laura Subject once again was the catalyst to all of the hitting recording 58 set assists and chipping in 15 digs, two kills and a block.

Defensively, Morgan Seybold had 33 digs, Mattison Thornton had 12 and sophomore Morgan Herold, stepping in to replace Ferragonio at defensive specialist, added six.

“Morgan is playing very well in Catherine’s spot” Mills said. “Her presence only helps us with depth. Having someone like her on the team who can step in right away does us wonders as a squad.”

Julie O’Brien led West Chester with 12 kills, while Karleigh Lutz and Marina Sharkey each added eight. Annalee Halbert set the offense with 37 set assists, while Lyndsey Iacobelli had 20 digs.

West Chester surprised Clarion in the first set finishing on an 11-7 spurt to take the set 25-21.

The Golden Rams then jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the second set and continued to hold the lead at 13-11 before the Golden Eagles got on a roll running off 14 of the final 19 points in the set to tie the match at one with the 25-16 victory. Three straight kills by Ferragonio after Clarion had taken a 17-14 lead proved to be too much for West Chester.

“After the loss in the first sett, I just told the team to keep calm and go out there and play as I know they know how,” Mills said. “We talked before the match about playing with energy and focus even though we had such an early start time (10 a.m.). They knew what they needed to do and they did it.”

Clarion built off the momentum gained in second set to put away the match by taking the final two sets by the combined 50-32 score with West Chester never holding a lead in the third set and never past 4-3 in the fourth set.

The Golden Eagles conclude PSAC Crossover play at 6 p.m. Saturday when they host Cheyney. The match ends a 10-game home stand for Clarion, who travels to Edinboro Friday before returning home against Slippery Rock at 1 p.m. Saturday Oct. 18. During the 10-game home stand, the Golden Eagles have gone 7-2 heading into the match with Cheyney.