FOXBURG, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Jordan Best dove to her right and threw an arm out to keep a point alive. Ranged to her left to make a difficult pass. Slid across the floor for a seemingly impossible dig that drew oohs from the crowd.
The senior libero on the Clarion volleyball team was all over the floor Tuesday night in a showdown with A-C Valley on the road. She flustered the Falcons’ talented hitters for most of the night and also served well, unveiling her improved jump serve in helping the Bobcats to a 25-17, 25-12, 25-12 sweep.
(Clarion senior libero Jordan Best was named the Hager Paving Incorporated Player of the Game Tuesday night)
Best was, well, at her best.
“She was reading really well and she came through with some pretty fancy digs, honestly,” said Clarion coach Shari Campbell. “She reacted and saw some things, so I was really happy to see playing that sharp.”
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Best admitted she didn’t get off to the best start this season. Because of injuries, she shuttled between libero and outside hitter at times. Now that she has settled back in at libero, she has rounded into the form that made her a Class A all-state selection last season.
“I started out a little rough,” Best said. “I just kept working and kept my head up.”
Best had 12 digs in the match. A-C Valley’s top hitter, senior Meah Ielase, did end up with seven kills, but she could have had many more if not for Best turning her away.
“Jordy Best had a really strong game for them at libero,” said A-C Valley coach Mike Meals. “Meah hit three rockets that (Best) dove and got with one arm and put them in the position to play them. She had a really strong game defensively.”
Best also had 12 service points and four aces with a jump serve that was difficult to handle at times.
“She has a jump serve and we kind of went away with it; she was kind of frustrated with it,” Campbell said. “We kind of went back to a normal float. We’ve been working on it in practice and she feels comfortable with it again. It looks good. We’re happy to be able to have her mix it up with both.”
Clarion (7-0), which has now won 31 straight matches, had little trouble dispatching A-C Valley (7-2), which was coming in playing well with three straight wins.
But the Bobcats are playing on a different planet right now.
Korrin Burns had 22 kills, Payton Simko added a career-high 10 kills and Noel Anthony had 31 assists for Clarion, which is playing every bit as well as it did during its state title season in 2020.
“They utilize Burns as much as they can,” Meals said. “But when teams start keying on Burns, they can go to somebody else, like Payton. They can be effective because teams, I think, overplay toward Burns. I mean, Burns had her typical good night, but I thought we did fairly well defending her and we got a lot of touches. I told my girls a couple of times you almost have to pick where you’re gonna go before she even hits it and hope you’re in the right place. She’s clearly the best hitter in the league.
“There was never any doubt about the results of the second and third games,” Meals added. “I was pleased overall with the effort they gave tonight. (Clarion) is just miles above everyone else in the league.”
The scary part is Clarion is getting better.
The Bobcats were without Aryana Girvan because of a sinus infection Tuesday. No worries. Simko stepped in admirably.
Campbell also mixed things up late, going to two setters.
“I put us in a 6-2 to just get them talking,” Campbell said. “I did that to kind of keep them on their ties because I think we’re a little bit flat. We’re coming off of homecoming. It’s Autumn Leaf week in Clarion. The seniors need to get college applications done. It’s a little bit of a grind. It’s always good to give them a problem to solve and you saw a little more talk because they had to.”
Best is happy with how her team is playing.
And who they are playing.
Last year, Clarion was unable to branch out too far from the District 9 schedule because of COVID. This year, the Bobcats have already played in a number of high-quality weekend tournaments and clashed with District 10 Warren in a thriller they won in five sets last month.
“It definitely helps. It always helps to play that triple-A, quad-A teams,” Best said. “It only makes us better.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
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