ERIE, Pa. - It wasn't the easiest victory but the Gannon Volleyball team found a way on Tuesday (Oct. 10) night in the Hammermill Center. It took the Gannon Lady Knights five sets to defeat the Mercyhurst Lakers, 21-25, 25-13, 20-25, 25-15, 15-8. A webcast replay of the match can be found
here.
Gannon improved to 16-3, 6-1 in the PSAC while Mercyhurst dropped to 6-12, 1-6 in the conference. The Lady Knights have won six-straight matches over the Lakers dating back to 2014.
The Lady Knights split the first four sets with Mercyhurst and headed to the fifth set for the tiebreaker.
Toni Leitshuh (Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) opened the set with a kill off a
Carolyn Knollman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Saint Ursula Academy) set. The early kill spurred a 7-2 start before the Lakers called timeout. Out of the timeout, Gannon scored five of the next eight points, including kills from Leitshuh,
Kelsey Ansec (Solon, Ohio/Solon),
Maggie Wilhelm (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) and
Rebekah Smith (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili). Gannon was in control at 12-5 and cruised to a 15-8 set victory, winning the match.
Rebekah Smith (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) led the Lady Knights with a season-high 11 kills. She had 11 kills on 27 attacks, hitting at a .333 clip.
Sara Crandall (Cattaraugus, N.Y./Cattaraugus-Little Valley) led GU with 22 kills, her fifth 20+ dig performance of the season. Leitshuh recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 17 digs.
Gannon (6-1 PSAC) pushed its lead to three games in the PSAC Northwest Division after Slippery Rock (1-6 PSAC) defeated Edinboro (3-4 PSAC) in three sets on Tuesday night.
The Lady Knights head on the road on Friday, Oct. 13, at Seton Hill. The match begins at 7 p.m. Gannon holds a 13-4 all-time record against the Griffins.Â
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