Nov. 15, 2007

CALIFORNIA - Behind 21 kills from Amanda Angermeier, Clarion rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Lees-McRae 3-1 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Tournament at California's Hamer Hall.

The second seeded Golden Eagles (28-5), who will now play third seeded Edinboro in the Atlantic Region semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday at Cal, lost the first game 30-28 but rallied to win the next three (30-27, 30-19, 30-28) to gain the first NCAA Playoff win in school history.

Angermeier played a key role in the comeback recording 18 of her 21 kills in the final three games including nine in the 30-19 Game Three victory.

Christian Steiner added 13 kills for the Golden Eagles, while Sarah Fries had eight and Tressa Dvorsky six. Kristi Fiorillo set the offense up with 48 set assists while adding 17 digs. Vicky Gentile paced the defense with 35 digs, while Fries had 26 and Steiner 15. Dvorsky added six blocks.

Daviana Metti led all players with 25 kills for Lees-McRae while adding 18 digs. Natalie Burns chipped in with 10 kills. Kell Bogdan had 29 digs and Lauren Dickover had 46 set assists and 17 digs.

Clarion started the match strong jumping out to a 9-3 Game One lead.

But seventh seeded Lees-McRae, went on an 11-4 run to take a 14-13 lead before Clarion rebounded to go back ahead 20-16. The Golden Eagles then led 22-19 before an 11-6 closing run by the Bobcats (26-12).

Game Two was a back-and-forth affair with Clarion taking the first real advantage with a 15-10 lead before Lees-McRae fought back getting to within a point a couple of times including 24-23. The Golden Eagles, though, put the match away with 6-4 closing run.

The third game was close in the beginning with the two teams tied at six before Clarion used an 11-4 run to grab a 17-10 lead. That lead never got below five the rest of the way.

Lees-McRae came out strong in the fourth game taking an 18-15 lead before Clarion rallied for three straight points to tie things up at 18.

Once again, the Bobcats went ahead going up by scores of 22-20 and eventually 26-24. But Clarion rallied running off six of the final eight points to take the match on a Steiner kill.

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES - Friday's match with Edinboro will be the third meeting between the teams this season ... Edinboro won the first contest 3-1 Oct. 2 at Edinboro before Clarion returned the favor with a 3-0 win at Clarion Nov. 3 in the regular-season finale that clinched second place in the PSAC-West for the Golden Eagles ... The match can be viewed on-line by going to www.calvulcans.com ...The win was the first in fourth tries against Lees-McRae in the NCAA Playoffs for Clarion ... The 28 wins are the third most in school history.