Photo Gallery (Gannon vs. Davis & Elkins - 8/31/12)
Gannon-Caldwell Box Score
ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon volleyball team finished up action at the Gannon Invitational with a decisive 3-0 win over Caldwell. The Lady Knights' victory came by scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-12.
The Lady Knights held Caldwell to a negative hitting percentage (-.010) after tallying 16 block assists. The Cougars totaled just 16 kills in the match compared to 41 for Gannon.
Gannon opened the match by building a 10-3 lead after five different Lady Knights put away kills. Morgan Reineke (New Knoxville, Ohio / New Knoxville) also added an ace during the run. Gannon finished off the set behind the serve of Lauren Sazama (St. Louis, Mo. / Oakville), scoring five straight points. An ace from the junior along with kills from Kayla Knickerbocker (Richland, Mich. / Gull Lake), Emily Meyer (Wexford, Pa. / North Allegheny) and Reineke gave Gannon the 1-0 edge.
The second set saw a closer match through the first 15 points until Gannon went on a 5-0 run to take a 13-7 lead. Kills from Reineke and Sazama coupled with two aces from Morgan Walters (Girard, Ohio / Girard) accounted for the scoring spurt. The Cougars challenged down the stretch, but a kill from Sazama put away the second set for Gannon.
In the third Caldwell again hung around in the beginning before Gannon put it away down the stretch. This time a 9-0 run to close out that match aided the Lady Knights to their second win of the season. Sazama gave the Cougars' serve receive fits when the junior buried aces in three out of four serves. Lexy Weissinger (Erie, Pa. / McDowell) subbed in for her first collegiate action, closing out the match with an ace of her own.
In total, Gannon managed 10 aces in the match led by Sazama's four. Knickerbocker was the leader at the net with five block assists while Emily Carver (Stow, Ohio / Theodore Roosevelt) and Sarah Glancy (Walled Lake, Mich. / Walled Lake Central) each totaled three.
Sazama's 14 kills were a match-best mark to go along with 10 digs. Reineke also reached double digits with 11 kills and a .375 attack percentage. Megan Wendel (Aurora, Ohio / Kenston) finished with 36 assists, seven digs, two kills and and two block assists. Taryn Graham (Huron, Ohio / Huron) led the team with 13 digs and added one assist.
The win improved Gannon to 2-1 this season while Caldwell fell to 2-2. The Lady Knights return to action next weekend when they host the Gannon-Mercyhurst Invitational. Gannon will play two matches on Saturday and two on Sunday during tournament action.
