On Friday, Sept. 1, Gannon Volleyball opened the 2017 season at Wayne State Warrior Invitational with a 3-0 sweep of the Ohio Dominican Panthers. The Lady Knights downed ODU, 25-17, 25-22, 25-11. In game two of the afternoon, Gannon outlasted Wisconsin-Parkside by a 3-1 margin, 25-19, 25-15, 22-25, 25-16. The Matt Darling led team opened 2-0 for its second-consecutive season.

Gannon 3, Ohio Dominican 0
Kelsey Ansec (Solon, Ohio/Solon) delivered the Lady Knights' first point of 2017 with a smash off a Carolyn Knollman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Saint Ursula Academy) set. Gannon edged out an 8-4 lead before the Panthers reeled of a string of points to get back within 8-7. Up 19-13, Gannon forced ODU to call timeout to regroup. Ohio Dominican came back with a point but Ansec stuffed a Panther rally with two kills and the Lady Knights went on to take the set 25-17.

Set two saw Ohio Dominican charge out charge out to a 7-2 lead on the back of three Ciara Ralston kills. Four errors by the Panthers had Gannon on the comeback at 9-6. The Lady Knights finally drew even at 16 on a Rebekah Smith (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) kill. A Knollman service ace followed which gave Gannon a lead it would not relinquish. GU took the set 25-22.

It was all Gannon in the third set. The Lady Knights had kills from Maggie Wilhelm (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) and Carolyn Knollman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Saint Ursula Academy) to take a 7-2 lead. Toni Leitshuh (Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) pushed the lead out to 14-6 with three service aces, forcing Ohio Dominican to call timeout. The Lady Knights finished off the third set, 25-11, taking the opening match of the Warrior Invitational.

Gannon was led by Ansec's 13 kills. She had a .258 hitting percentage on 31 attempts. Knollman paced the Lady Knights with 28 assists and 12 digs.

Gannon 3, Wisconsin-Parkside 1 
Gannon pulled out of the gate with kills from four different Lady Knights. Ansec began the spree with Leitshuh, Maggie Wilhelm (Euclid, Ohio/Lake Catholic) and Rebekah Smith (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) following suit to give Gannon a 7-1 edge. GU had its largest lead of the set at 15-6 before Wisconsin-Parkside started to pull back. The Rangers went on a 12-7 run to get within 22-18 but the Lady Knights scored three of the last four points, winning 25-22.

Wisconsin-Parkside tallied the first three points in the second set. Gannon returned fire and tied the set at four aided by an Ansec kill. GU began to inch out midway in the set. Ansec delivered a liner with Gannon up 14-11 that necessitated a Ranger timeout. The stoppage of play didn't halt the Lady Knights' momentum, however. Up 20-15, Gannon reeled off the final five points of the set and took it 25-15.

Set three belonged to the Rangers. A back-and forth set made its final swing after the teams were tied at 20 and Wisconsin-Parkside edged ahead on a Leah Fenske kill. The Rangers went up 21-20 and pushed out to a 25-22 decision.

The fourth set was also back-and-forth early on. The teams exchanged points, tying the set eight times before the teams reached 10 points. That's when Gannon began to turn its play up a notch. Leitshuh recorded a service ace to put GU up 15-12. The lead was four, 17-13, after Ashley Kerestes (Loves Park, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) served up a kill. From that point, Gannon went on an 8-3 run to end the set, winning 25-16.

Leitshuh led the Lady Knights with 13 kills and 17 digs. The 17 digs and 13 kills are both career-bests for the sophomore. Knollman led the Lady Knights with 35 assists, while also chipping in 13 digs. Gannon improved to 2-0 while the Rangers dropped to 0-2 on the season.

Gannon will return to the Warrior Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 2. The Lady Knights will take on Minnesota St.-Mankato at 11:15 a.m., followed by a 6 p.m. match with the host Wayne State Warriors.