Video Highlights & InterviewsTHE BASICSScore: Seton Hill 3, Gannon 1
Set scores: (20-25, 25-23, 13-25, 25-27)
Records: Gannon (24-7) / Seton Hill (32-5)
Location: Alma Grace McDonough Center – Wheeling Jesuit, W.Va.
The Short Story: The Gannon women's volleyball team's season came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Atlantic Regional, as the No. 5 seed Lady Knights dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 4 seed Seton Hill Thursday evening at the Alma Grace McDonough Center on the campus of top-seed Wheeling Jesuit. After falling 25-20 in the first set, the Lady Knights bounced back with a 25-23 victory to tie the match at one each. The Griffins earned back-to-back wins, 25-13 and 27-25, to secure the victory. The Lady Knights made their school-record sixth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Atlantic Regional.
THE BASICS- For the fifth consecutive match, sophomore
Hannah Kren (Waukesha, Wis. / Wisconsin Lutheran) earned a double-double, bringing her season total to 20. Kren finished the day with 16 kills and 11 digs, while tacking on four block assists, two assists and a service ace.
- Sophomore
Jordyn Thiery (Cincinnati, Ohio / McAuley) contributed 11 kills along with four digs, a block assist and a service ace.
- Junior
Lynne Hibbard (West Barnstable, Mass. / Barnstable) registered nine kills followed by sophomore
Lauren Beck (Chardon, Ohio / Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) with eight kills.
- Senior
Megan Wendel (Aurora, Ohio / Kenston) generated 48 assists and compiled 10 digs for her 14th double-double of the season. Wendel recorded 40 or more assists in 16 matches this season.
- Defensively, freshman
Sara Crandall (Cattaraugus, N.Y. / Cattaraugus-Little Valley) led the team with 13 digs, all coming in the fourth set. Senior
Taryn Graham (Huron, Ohio / Huron) added 10 digs to the Lady Knights' totals.
- Seton Hill posted a higher attack-percentage in three of the four sets. The Lady Knights outperformed the Griffins in their second-set victory by a margin of .381 to .349. In the final two sets, the Lady Knights hit at a clip of .086 and .094 to finish the match at .197. The Griffins posted an attack percentage of .252 for the match.
- At the net, the Griffins slipped by with a 6.0 to 5.5 blocking advantage.
HOW IT HAPPENED- Gannon dropped the opening set by the score of 25-20. Out of the gate, the Lady Knights captured a 6-1 lead including two kills by Kren before the Griffins went on a 6-1 run of their own to tie the set at 7-7. Holding a 16-15 lead, the Griffins put together a 4-1 run to push their advantage to 20-16. The Lady Knights pulled within two of the Griffins, 22-20, before the No. 4 seed strung together three-straight kills for the 25-20 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
- The Lady Knights knotted the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 win in the second set. Facing a 7-5 deficit, the Lady Knights scored four unanswered points to take a 9-7 lead only for the Griffins to tie the set at 9-9. Back-to-back kills by Hibbard put the Lady Knights back in the lead, 15-13. Down the stretch the Lady Knights took a three-point leads at 17-14, 20-17, 21-18, 22-19 and 23-20. Late in the set, the Griffins pulled within one, 24-23, before senior
Maggie Desrosiers (Uniontown, Ohio / Hoover) drilled in the kill for a 25-23 GU victory to tie the match at one.
- The Griffins captured a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-13 win in the third set. Playing close early on, the Griffins used a 8-1 run to take an 11-4 lead over the Lady Knights. The Griffins would push their lead to double figures, 17-7, which provided the team enough insurance in picking up the 25-13 win.
- The fourth set took an almost identical form as the third set. Starting off close, the Griffins relied on an 8-3 run to double up on the Lady Knights, 12-6. Holding a 14-10 lead, the Griffins scored five of the next six points to push their advantage to 19-11. With the season hanging in the balance and trailing 23-17, the Lady Knights fought back to tie the set. Starting with kills by Beck and Kren, the Lady Knights watched the Griffins commit four consecutive errors to knot the set at 23-23. Despite the set being tied at 24-24 and 25-25, the Griffins tallied the final two points to earn the 27-25 win to capture the 3-1 victory in the match.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE- Gannon moves to 10-4 in the all-time series with Seton Hill.
- The Griffins entered the NCAA postseason as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) runner-up after being swept by California (Pa.) in the title match.
- For the Lady Knights, the last three matches have come against the Griffins starting with the regular-season finale.
- The Lady Knights appeared in their sixth consecutive NCAA Atlantic Regional.
- Concluding the season with a 24-7 overall record, the Lady Knights have eclipsed 20 or more wins for the sixth-straight season.
- The Lady Knights and Griffins met for the first time in regional play.
REST OF THE NCAA ATLANTIC REGIONAL FIELD- To open the day, No. 3 seed California (Pa.) defeated No. 6 seed Mercyhurst in four sets by scores of 19-25, 25-14, 25-14 and 25-20.
- In the second match of the day, No. 2 seed Clarion swept No. 7 seed Edinboro by scores of 25-16, 25-10 and 25-22. Clarion will now take on reigning PSAC Champion California (Pa.) in the second round Nov. 21, starting at 5 p.m.
- The final match of the day featured another sweep, as top-seed and 11th nationally-ranked Wheeling Jesuit pushed by Chowan in set scores of 25-11, 25-17 and 25-10. Wheeling Jesuit will square off against Seton Hill Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. for a chance to compete in the regional championship.
QUOTABLES | HEAD COACH MATT DARLING"It's always tough to lose the last match of the year, and this one is no exception. On one hand, I am proud of our team for fighting to the finish and showing a great deal of heart; but on the other hand is the reality that we ended the year with five straight losses, and that's a reality that will keep me up at night until probably next September."
"I hate for our seniors to go out like this, but we had a good year and they helped us win many times. I appreciate their hard work for Gannon volleyball."
