ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon volleyball team enters the final weekend of the regular season with its sights set on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) regular season title. If the Lady Knights win their final two matches, they will be the PSAC regular season champion and have the top seed in the conference tournament.
On Friday (Nov.11) night, Gannon took care of the first part of what they had to do. The Lady Knights defeated Slippery Rock in three sets, 25-12, 25-23, 25-21.
In set one, Gannon started off on fire.
Lexi Johnson (Chandler, Ariz./Basha) opened the match with a kill and the Lady Knights jumped out to a 13-2 advantage before Slippery Rock could gather any traction. The Rock went on a 7-4 run to pull within 17-9, but
Beka Smith (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) killed the SRU rally with a smash through the defense and the Lady Knights went on to win the set, 25-12.
Set two came down to the wire as two Leah Jones' kills pulled the Rock to within 22-20.
Hannah Kren (Waukesha, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) gave the Lady Knights some breathing room with a kill, but another Leah Jones kill and a Gannon miscue had the Rock down just one at 23-22. Gannon and Slippery Rock traded points to make the score 24-23, before Kren ended the suspense with set-ending kill, 25-23.
Set three had similar drama. The set was tied at 21 when
Kelsey Ansec (Solon, Ohio /Solon) pushed the Lady Knights ahead, 22-21. Kren backed Ansec up with another kill and two more SRU errors gave Gannon the win, 25-21.
Kren notched her 12
th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs.
Lauren Beck (Chardon, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) tied Megan Heisler for third all-time at Gannon in career blocks with 309. Beck sits with 92 blocks this season and has averaged .94 blocks per set over her career.
Gannon improves to 26-3 overall, 15-2 in the PSAC.
The Lady Knights' current .897 winning percentage is the second highest in program history behind the 40-2, (.952) 1992 squad that reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
Slippery Rock falls to 12-19, 4-13 in the conference.
On Saturday (Nov.12) the Lady Knights will face Edinboro in a match that will decide the 2016 PSAC regular season champion. The Fighting Scots and Lady Knights are tied atop the conference with identical 15-2 records. The winner of the 4 p.m. match will earn the No. 1 seed in the PSAC tournament, which begins Tuesday (Nov. 15) with the quarterfinal round. The quarterfinal round matches will be played at the designated school site that is the higher seed. The semifinal and final rounds will be played at the highest seed remaining after the quarterfinal round.
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