CLARION, Pa. – The IUP women's volleyball program could not sustain any momentum, falling in straight sets to a determined Clarion side on Tuesday night in the PSAC Quarterfinals at Tippin Gymnasium.
 
Clarion rolled to a victory in set scores of 26-24, 25-18 and 25-15 and advances to Friday's PSAC Semifinals at Shippensburg. Meanwhile, IUP (21-20) awaits a potential bid to the NCAA Tournament, ranked third in the latest set of regional rankings.
 
The Golden Eagles took an extended first set and did not look back, hitting .351 as a team in the second set and a staggering .500 in the third frame. Stefania Anagnostou tied a match-high 13 kills on a .387 hitting percentage and 10 digs while the rest of the IUP lineup held in check.
 
Kat Warpinski notched 18 assists and Bailey Flowerdew tied a match-high 14 digs. The Golden Eagles used a balanced attack with contributions throughout the lineup, including double figure kills for Julia Piccolino (13), Charlie Allison (10), Savannah Taosoga (10) and Cassidy Snider (10).
 
The Golden Eagles finished with 50 kills to IUP's 35 with stats relatively even at the net, curtailing the Crimson Hawks stout block.  
 
IUP opened the match with a slight advantage at 4-1 following a service ace from Anagnostou before Clarion eventually whittled the deficit away. Tied at 11, Anagnostou launched in a kill before Birch pushed the Hawks to a 13-12 advantage.
 
The teams continued trading points in a tightly contested set before Clarion used a swing of three straight points for an 18-17 edge. Consecutive kills coming from Anagnostou and Caroline Walsh pushed IUP in front at 22-21, prompting a Clarion timeout. A pair of IUP attack errors leveled the score at 23 before the Golden Eagles held off set point for a 25-24 score. Snider delivered from the left side for Clarion with a kill for a 26-24 set victory.
 
In an evenly played second set, Clarion used a 3-0 spurt for an 18-15 lead that prompted an IUP timeout. Delaney Concannon tied the set at 15 with a kill before Clarion pushed momentum in its favor. The Golden Eagles continued surging with a 6-2 push that included a pair of kills for Julia Piccolino for a 21-17 lead.
 
The Golden Eagles rattled off a 7-1 run in the third set which opened up a five-point advantage at 12-7. Clarion stretched its lead to 19-11 and kept its foot on the gas to close out the sweep.
 
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