ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon Lady Knights Volleyball team battled all season in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play and Saturday night all that hard work paid off as Gannon won the 2016 PSAC Volleyball Tournament Championship.

Gannon defeated Pitt-Johnstown in three hotly contested sets, 27-25, 26-24, 25-23.

On Friday in the PSAC Semifinals, Gannon downed California (Pa.) in three sets to advance to the Championship match against Pitt-Johnstown. UPJ made it to the championship match by defeating Indiana (Pa.), 3-1, in the semifinals.

In set one, Pitt-Johnstown was playing for the set point, up 24-22. UPJ's Allison Mondorff couldn't close the deal as her attack was off the mark and Gannon closed to within one at 24-23. The Mountain Cats' Cambria Wierman tried again to clinch the set but her attack was blocked by Gannon's Lauren Beck (Chardon, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) and Anne-Mari Kaur (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn Lillekula Upper Secondary School). Gannon tied the set at 24.  A Beck attack error put UPJ back up 25-24 before Hannah Kren (Waukesha, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) delivered a key kill and tied the match back up. Pitt-Johnstown followed with two attack errors and Gannon won the set 27-25.

Set two saw similar drama as the first. The set was tied at 24 when Carolyn Knollman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Saint Ursula Academy) set up Kren for the go-ahead kill. On the ensuing play, Beka Smith ended the set with a shot that UPJ couldn't handle. Gannon won the set 26-24.

The final set was also a nail-bitter. Gannon led 24-22 and was looking for the set point when Smith's shot was blocked by Kendall Mahoney and Marissa Ermino. Pitt-Johnstown pulled to within one at 24-23. Smith tried to end it again and this time she was successful. She ripped a ball into the UPJ defense and the ball sailed off a defender and to the floor. Gannon took the set, 25-23, and won the match.

Kelsey Ansec (Solon, Ohio/Solon) was named the PSAC Tournament MVP after tallying 36 combined kills against California (Pa.) and Pitt-Johnstown.

B. Smith led the Lady Knights with 16 kills, eight block assists, five digs and a .367 hitting percentage against Pitt-Johnstown.

Gannon improved to 30-3 this season. It's only the fifth time the Lady Knights have reached the 30-win plateau in the program's 43-year history.

Pitt-Johnstown falls to 24-9 this season.

The PSAC Championship is the second in Gannon's nine-year history in the conference. The Lady Knights also won the conference championship in 2012.

With the win, the Lady Knights have clinched a spot in the NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament beginning Dec. 1. The field will be announced on Monday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. on the NCAA Selection Show. The show can be watched live at www.ncaa.com.