Box Score Wheeling, W.Va.---The top-ranked Wheeling Jesuit volleyball team (37-2) will play for the Atlantic Region Championship after a hard-fought, come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the fourth seeded Golden Eagles of Clarion University (24-12) at the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Friday evening.
 
The Cardinals faced elimination, falling behind 2-1 by the end of the third set, but WJU student section and home crowd began to “rock the house” which generated a shift in momentum. The Cardinals used the energy to fuel an impressive comeback, forcing a fifth set.
 
The first set was an electrifying back-and-forth battle which featured 17 tied scores and six lead changes. Clarion won the set 25-23 after a pair of scores and timeouts by both teams. The match opened with a Jesuit service error, but a play later, Jenna Pew grounded a kill for a 1-1 split. From that point, the two team traded blows until the Cards recorded straight points for an 8-6 advantage. Jesuit maintained the two-point spread until the Golden Eagles tied the set 10-10. Again, the scoreboard flip-flopped, but at 15-15, Clarion surged with a 4-0 run, causing Wheeling Jesuit to call timeout.
 
After the stoppage, the Cardinals regained the lead with a 5-1 run, 21-20. The set remained tight with Jesuit controlling the scoreboard 23-22, forcing Clarion to call a timeout. The Golden Eagles floored the next point and Jesuit stopped play; however, a combo block by Clarion's Laura Subject and Corinne Manley and a WJU attacking error gave Clarion a 1-0 match advantage.  
 
In the second set, Jesuit bounced back as Corrin Early set the tone from the opening tap, flooring two of the Cardinals three initial points. Jesuit flew to a 6-2 advantage after a pair of service aces by Pew, but Clarion narrowed the gap, 6-5. After the two teams traded kills, the Cardinals unleashed with an 8-1 scoring outburst. Rachel Caja and Early initiated the run with back-to-back kills, and Allissa Ware followed with a pair of service aces. Pew added two kills and Abby Wietrzykowski had one. Jesuit established a nine-point differential, 20-11. Clarion attempted a comeback with a 7-3 run, but Pew and Wietrzykowski pounded out the final two points for a 25-18 victory.
 
Clarion established an early two-point, 4-2, advantage in the third frame and controlled the scoreboard for the majority of the set. The Golden Eagles increased the lead to five points with an 8-3 run and never looked back, taking a 2-1 set advantage with a 25-19 win.
 
Staring at elimination, Jesuit was determined not to leave the home floor without a fight. The Cardinals and the Golden Eagles battled to a 12-12 stalemate, trading shots on both sides of the net, when WJU earned some breathing room. The Cardinals collected consecutive points on a Ware kill and Clarion attacking error for a 14-12 advantage. After a Golden Eagle score, Makenzie Ripley pushed the ball to an open space in the back corner and Pew followed with a kill for the largest lead by either team at 16-13. Clarion quickly tied the game with three points, and captured a one-point lead at 20-19. Pew followed with a service ace and a CU attacking error gave the Cardinals a 21-20 edge. Jesuit followed with another point, but a service error let Clarion back into the contest. With the set tied at 24 apiece, Madison Strall delivered the 25^th point, and Pew laid down the game-winner.
 
Jesuit raced to a 4-0 advantage in the deciding set as Pew opened with a kill, Ripley served-up an ace, Pew connected again and Early fired a shot on the opposite side of the net. Clarion closed the gap, 4-2, but Pew stopped the run. The Golden Eagles continued to attack, eventually creating a one-point deficit, 6-5. After a serving error, WJU's Caja denied a Golden Eagle attack to give the Cardinals an 8-5 advantage, and the home crowd erupted. Wietrzykowski followed with a pair of kills and Caja made it a four-point spread with an attack, 11-7. On the ensuing play, Strall aced the defense and went on to record the final point, 15-10.
 
Pew led the Cardinals' offense with 16 kills while tossing 22 assists, and Ware followed with a double-double, recording 18 digs and 11 kills. Wietrzykowski chipped in eight kills, Strall registered seven, Early tallied six while Caja and Ashley Remlinger had five. Strall recorded a team-best 30 assists and Ripley had 28 digs.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action on Saturday, December 1, hosting California for the NCAA Atlantic Region title. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m.