Clarion Volleyball Performs Well At Own Tournament(09/28/17)

(By CSZ sportswriter Kenn Staub)

The 17th Annual Clarion Area Volleyball Tournament was held Saturday, September 23, with the host team going 7-1 on the day.

(Photos courtesy of Clarion Area Volleyball) Maya Thornton

Clarion went undefeated in the first round of pool play, downing Wilmington 25-9, Cambridge Springs 25-16, and Mercyhurst Prep 25-13.  The going got a little tougher in the second round, though the Bobcats kept their undefeated streak going with victories over Coudersport (25-13), Dubois (26-24), and Altoona (26-24).  Based on their performance in pool play, Clarion finished the tournament in the Gold Bracket, where they defeated North Star 25-22 in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Cambridge Springs 25-22 in the semis.

Senior Maya Thornton paced the Bobcats with 58 points, 30 from the service line (6 aces) and a team high 28 kills.  Defensively she recorded 24 digs and a block.  She was followed in the points column by senior Sydney Kiser and junior Lexi Lauer.  Kiser put up 32 points, serving for 16 of her total (2 aces) and adding the other half via kills.  She had 15 digs on defense.  Lauer served for 16 points (3 aces) and had 12 kills on her way to scoring 28.  On defense she had a block while digging 27.  Senior Alexis Constantino accounted for 23 points, all off the serve (5 aces), while recording 3 assists.  Her 35 digs led the team.

Sydney Kiser

Maya Miller, a senior setter, served for 9 points, 3 of which were aces.

Junior Hailey Sintobin had 9 kills, 1 block, and 1 dig.  Classmate Ali Troese had a block and a kill.  unior Kaylie Lutz also saw playing time.

Maddie Schill led all sophomores by scoring 10 points, all off kills.  She scooped up 2 digs on defense.  Sophomore Kaitlyn Constantino served for 2 points and had 2 digs.  Fellow sophomore KK Girvan got on the stat sheet with 2 digs.

Freshman Brenna Campbell had 8 service points (2 aces) and a team high 67 assists.  She also acquitted herself well on defense, coming up with 26 digs.  Ava Kiser, a freshman defensive specialist, recorded 2 service points and 2 digs.

Other schools participating in the tournament were Bradford, Butler, Cranberry, Elk County Catholic, Franklin, Huntingdon, Keystone, and Warren.

(Thanks to Kenn Staub for this article. Great tourney, Cats!!!!)