Tournament: Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East/West Crossover
Location: Hollinger Fieldhouse – West Chester, Pa.
The Short Story: The Gannon women's volleyball team concluded Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East/West Crossover Saturday at Hollinger Fieldhouse on the campus of West Chester. The Lady Knights earned the program's 700th win with a 3-0 victory over the host Golden Rams with set scores of 25-22, 25-20 and 25-22. The Lady Knights clinched their second sweep of the day, defeating East Stroudsburg with set scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-20.
GAME ONE:Scores: Gannon 3, at West Chester 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22)
Records: GU (10-0, 3-0 PSAC)/WCU (7-4, 0-3 PSAC)
THE BASICS- Sophomores
Jordyn Thiery (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) and
Hannah Kren (Waukesha, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) each reached double figures in kills. Kren recorded 11 kills and Thiery compiled 10.
- Senior
Megan Wendel (Aurora, Ohio/Kenston) registered 35 assists and 11 digs to record a double-double.
- The West Chester Golden Rams out-hit the Gannon Lady Knights, .220 to .176. In the first set, the Golden Rams posted a match-best .444 attack percentage.
- Junior
Lynne Hibbard (West Barnstable, Mass./Barnstable) led the Lady Knights at the net with three block assists.
- The match featured 15 total tied scores and eight lead changes. The last set showed the most action with 12 tied scores and seven lead changes.
HOW IT HAPPENED- The Lady Knights opened the first set with a 4-1 lead before the Golden Rams tied the set at 6-6, the second time the score was knotted up. Holding a one-point lead, 10-9, the Lady Knights recorded four straight points to distance themselves from the Golden Rams. The Lady Knights took a 22-18 lead on a service ace by Thiery, forcing a West Chester timeout. The Golden Rams were able to regroup to pull within one only to fall behind again. Senior
Emily Carver (Stow, Ohio/Theodore Roosevelt) sealed the 25-22 set-win with a kill.
- Three Golden Rams' errors gave the Lady Knights a 3-0 lead in the second set. The Golden Rams were unable to fully recover from the start. The Lady Knights doubled up on the Golden Rams, 8-4, providing the needed insurance. The Golden Rams were able to put a dent in the Lady Knights' lead, 14-12, forcing a GU timeout. The Lady Knights took control at that point, pushing their lead to six points, 20-14. Back-to-back kills by Kren inched the Lady Knights closer to the win, as Hibbard recorded the last kill for a 25-20 win and 2-0 lead in the match.
- The third set was controlled by 12 tied scores and seven lead changes. The Lady Knights captured a 10-7 lead on a Kren kill, leading to a Golden Rams' timeout. Despite the Golden Rams tying the set twice, they were unable to overcome the Lady Knights' lead until they tied it at 17 all. An attack error and a service ace gave the Golden Rams a 19-17 lead. Following a timeout, the Lady Knights erased the Golden Rams' lead to tie it at 20. Two errors handed the Golden Rams another lead, 22-20, which forced another GU timeout. From there, the Lady Knights shut down the Golden Rams' scoring attack, as GU strung together five points for the 3-0 match victory.
GAME TWO:Scores: Gannon 3, East Stroudsburg 0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-20)
Records: GU (11-0, 4-0 PSAC)/ESU (4-8, 0-4 PSAC)
THE BASICS- In a team effort, five Lady Knights recorded five or more kills. Hibbard led the Lady Knights with nine kills followed by Wendel and freshman
Kelsey Ansec (Solon, Ohio/Solon) with eight kills each. Sophomore
Lauren Beck (Chardon, Ohio / Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) and redshirt-freshman
Beka Smith (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) collected seven kills each.
- Wendel posted 36 digs to finish the day with 71 total kills.
- Reaching double digits in digs, senior
Taryn Graham (Huron, Ohio/Huron) compiled 22 and senior
Maggie Desrosiers (Uniontown, Ohio/Hoover) finished with 11.
- The Lady Knights cruised through the match with a .330 attack percentage compared to East Stroudsburg's .147 score.
- The match featured 11 tied scores and two lead changes.
HOW IT HAPPENED- Holding a 15-8 lead in the first set, the Lady Knights forced East Stroudsburg into a timeout. Following the timeout, the Lady Knights pushed their lead to 16-10 only to fire off six unanswered points for a 22-10 lead. During the run, Kren registered two kills with Hibbard, while Thiery and Smith adding a kill each. Beck finished off the Warriors with consecutive kills to capture a 25-13 win.
- The Lady Knights controlled the lead throughout the entire second set. Following the fifth tied score at 15 all, the Lady Knights took over with a 10-2 run. Thiery closed the set at the service line, recording three service aces including the match point for a 25-17 victory.
- With the set tied at 9-9, the Lady Knights forced the Warriors into a timeout with three straight points including two by Ansec for a 12-9 lead. Wendel gave the Lady Knights their biggest lead of the set up to that point, 15-9. The Warriors were able to cut into the Lady Knights' advantage by three points, 18-15. Despite the Warriors pulling within one point, 19-18, the Lady Knights went on a 6-2 run including back-to-back kills by Ansec for the 25-20 set-win and 3-0 match-victory.
QUOTABLES | HEAD COACH MATT DARLING"We are happy to be going back to Erie with some wins. I am especially happy that our offense seemed to be clicking a bit better this afternoon than it was this morning. We had good balance with our attacking and we're much improved on defense."
WHAT'S NEXTGannon returns home to the Hammermill Center Sept. 26 and 27, when the team hosts Slippery Rock followed by Edinboro. The Lady Knights open the weekend against The Rock at 7 p.m. then the Fighting Scots at 2 p.m.
