Lady Cats Volleyball Team Does Well At Prestigious Bulldog Invitational

The Clarion Area Lady Cats Volleyball Team competed in the prestigious 2021 Bulldog Invitational at Wilson High School in West Lawn, on Saturday (September 11th). The event featured a number of state ranked teams, from all classifications.

The Lady Cats were in Pool C with Freedom, Hatboro-Horsham, Allentown Central Catholic and Central Dauphin.

Clarion finished second in Pool C. They opened Pool Play going 1-1 with ACC (16-25, 21-13) ACC was ranked number 10 in Class AA. They just fell out of the Class AA rankings . Next was a 2-0 series with Hatsboro-Horsham (25-17, 25-23).

The Cats went 2-0 (25-15, 25-21) against Central Dauphin in their third Pool Play series. Clarion then had a 1-1 series with Freedom (26-24, 21-25), to finish out Pool Play at 6-2, securing a spot in the quarterfinals. Freedom was number 10 in Class AAAA last week and just moved up to number 6.

The Lady Cats last action of the tournament came in the quarterfinals, with a 25-13 loss to eventual champion Unionville who was the 2020 Class AAAA State Runner Up Team and are currently the number three team in Class AAAA.

Several Lady Cats had solid all-round tournaments, putting up some impressive numbers. Korrin Burns had 45 kills, 17 points (8 aces), 13 assists and an assist. Noel Anthony dished out 65 assists, while scoring 12 points (4 aces), delivering 5 kills and twelve digs. Bri Pierce scored 31points (3 aces) and nineteen digs. Aryana Girvan registered 13 kills and six digs. Jordan Best delivered 16 digs, 3 points and four assists.

Turning in a great night off the bench was Gia Babington, who served for 11 points, with a service percentage of 96. She also had four digs.

Grace Ochs served for 8 points (3 aces) and had three digs. Adia Needham contributed 9 kills, 3 assists and three digs. Payton Simko delivered 7 kills an assist and four digs. Taylor Alston had 5 kills, an assist and a dig..

Hadley Campbell contributed an assist and Paola Lopez registered a kill.

Clarion Coach Shari Campbell had this to say, “Great competition today and a great day for us. We performed well. We won a lot of our sets which is always the goal.  We lost in some tight situations and battled some teams with size well. We lost our points through very committed play on our part.  This day of play has definitely strengthened us.”

(Great work, Lady Cats!!!!)

Meet results:

Pool Play

Pool A: Unionville 7-1, State College 5-3, Pope John Paul II 4-4, Cumberland Valley 3-5, Exeter 1-7

Pool B: Bishop Shanahan 7-1, Wilson 6-2, Southern Lehigh 4-4, Bald Eagle Area 3-5, Palmyra 0-8

Pool C: Freedom 7-1, Clarion 6-2, Hatboro-Horsham 3-5, Allentown Central Catholic 3-5,Central Dauphin 2-6

Pool D: Phillipsburg Osceola 7-1, Hempfield 5-3, Bethlehem Catholic 4-4, Liberty 4-4, Garden Spot 0-8

Playoffs:

Quartersfinals: Unionville over Clarion 25-13; Bishop Shanahan over Hempfield 25-21; Wilson over Freedom 25-19; Phillipsburg-Osceola over State College 25-23

Semifinals: Unionville over Bishop Shanahan 25-16, 25-22; Phillipsburg Osceola over Wilson 25-17, 25-22

Final: Unionville over Phillipsburg Osceola 25-16, 25-23