Box Score CLARION, Pa. – The old adage is that it's hard to beat a team three times in a season.
 
The Clarion University women's volleyball team found that out the hard way Tuesday night, as the PSAC West champion and top-seeded Golden Eagles dropped a 3-1 decision to fourth-seeded Gannon, the defending PSAC Champion, in the PSAC Quarterfinals Tuesday night at Tippin Gym.
 
"Gannon has gotten better and better as the year has gone on," Clarion's seventh-year head coach Jen Mills, whose teams owns a pair of 3-1 wins over Gannon this year, said. "They have young, physical kids who are starting to figure it out, and they are well coached. They are playing great right now. It was an all-around tough matchup for us."
 
Things started well for the Golden Eagles (31-4), as they won the first set 25-18 and led the second set 17-11.
 
But Gannon (20-12) went on a set-ending 14-4 run to tie the match at one set apiece with a 25-21 win.
 
"We had them in the second set," Mills said. "They made some adjustments and got us out of system. Our passing was off all night."
 
Clarion seemed in control of the third set as well taking a 20-17 lead on a Laura Subject kill only to watch Gannon rally once more to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-22 win.
 
Gannon then raced out to a 20-14 lead in the fourth set and had three chances to put the set and the match away before finally doing so on an attack error by Emily Stewart, 25-20.
 
The fact the match ended on an attack error pretty much summed up Clarion's hitting for the night. The Golden Eagles, who came into the match with the second-best hitting percentage in the PSAC at .222, hit a season-low .104 (42 kills, 26 errors, 154 kills) Tuesday night.
 
"We couldn't pass," Mills said. "We passed the ball poorly. That's our fault. We also didn't move well to the ball. Our outside hitters are taking too many swings, and we need to get Hannah (Heeter) involved more. But a lot of that has to do with ball control. Laura (junior setter Laura Subject) had to set more balls underhand tonight than probably all season because our passing was off. We weren't talking or moving well."
 
Stewart led Clarion with 14 kills and 14 digs, while Carlie Bieranowski added 11 kills and 13 digs, but both players hit under .100 for the match. Heeter hit .375 with eight kills and four digs but took only 16 swings.
 
Subject ended with 35 set assists and 10 digs, while Morgan Seybold chipped in with 26 digs.
 
Hannah Kren led Gannon with 22 kills, while Jordyn Thiery had 16. The Golden Knights didn't hit all that well either finishing at .143 (55-30-175).
 
Megan Wendel had 47 set assists and 10 digs, Tayrn had 31 digs, Thiery 14 and Kren 12.
 
Gannon will face Pitt-Johnstown, the second-place team from the PSAC East, in the PSAC Semifinals Friday at Shippensburg.
 
Clarion, which entered the match ranked third in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region, now waits to see if it receives a bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the fifth straight year.
 
"We should still get a tournament bid," Mills said. "We are disappointed in how we played tonight. We know we are a better team than we showed."
 
Despite the loss, Mills was ecstatic about the fan support. An estimated total of 513 showed up at Tippin Gym, Clarion's largest crowd of the year.
 
"The crowd was awesome," Mills said. "I really appreciate that, probably more than they know."
 
NOTES – Clarion dropped a home playoff match for just the third time in school history and for the first time since 1988 ending a four-match home playoff win streak with three of those wins coming during the school's run to the PSAC Title in 2010. Clarion is 10-3 all-time at home in the postseason and 34-33 in 67 postseason matches.