SLIPPERY ROCK (5-23, 1-13 PSAC West) at GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (24-5, 11-3 PSAC West)
Date/Time: Friday, November 12, 2021 l 7:00 p.m.
Location: Erie, Pa. | Hammermill Center
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 
CALIFORNIA (PA) VULCANS (13-10, 8-6 PSAC West) at GANNON GOLDEN KNIGHTS (24-5, 11-3 PSAC West)
Date/Time: Saturday, November 13, 2021 | 2:00 p.m.
Location: Erie, Pa. | Hammermill Center
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
 
ERIE, Pa. – Gannon will wrap up the 2021 regular season with a pair of home matches on Friday and Saturday inside the Hammermill Center. The Golden Knights will open the weekend with a 7 p.m. matchup against Slippery Rock on Friday evening, before capping the regular season against California (Pa.) on senior day Saturday afternoon.
 
Following Saturday's senior day match, Gannon will honor eight seniors that will play their final home match at the Hammermill Center. The Gannon seniors include; Katie Becht (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster), Ashley Beyers (Lanark, Ill./Eastland), Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute), Ashley Kerestes (Loves Park, Ill./Rockford Lutheran), Kenzie Lasher (Ford City, Pa./Armstrong), Ashley McClung (Charleston, W.Va./George Washington), Lauren Sampson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) and Valeria Torres (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame). The senior class helped Gannon to three NCAA Tournaments, two NCAA Elite Eights and a national semifinal in 2017.
 
Gannon won the first meeting of the season against Slippery Rock back on Oct. 16 on the road. The Golden Knights won the match 3-1 behind 10 kills from Sampson and nine from Sam Deinek (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon East). Lasher and Becht led Gannon in the match with 21 and 15 digs, respectively. GU held an 11-7 advantage in blocks and a 7-3 edge in service aces.
 
The night before, Gannon won the first matchup of the season against Cal U by a 3-0 final score. Sampson also led Gannon against the Vulcans with 11 kill and a pair of block assists. Ashley McClung (Charleston, W.Va./George Washington) also chipped in nine kills, while Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute) added seven kills and four block assists.
 
Gannon comes into the match winners of nine of its last 10 matches and currently ranks third in the NCAA Atlantic Region Rankings that were released on Wednesday afternoon. Wheeling (22-5) and Shepherd (21-3) are ahead of Gannon (24-5) at the top of this week's rankings. Edinboro (19-5) and Clarion (18-8) rounded out the top five. West Virginia State (23-3), East Stroudsburg (15-9), Fairmont State (20-8), West Chester (21-6) and West Liberty (19-11) occupied the bottom half of the rankings at No. 6-10.
 
Gannon and Edinboro are currently tied atop the PSAC West with 11-3 conference records, closely followed by Clarion at 10-4. Gannon, Edinboro and Clarion have already cliched berths in the upcoming PSAC Volleyball Tournament. Cal U is currently fourth in the PSAC West at 8-6 in conference play. The Vulcans can clinch the final PSAC West tournament spot with a win on Friday at Mercyhurst or Saturday against Gannon.
 
MCCLUNG HONORED AS PSAC WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Gannon right-side hitter Ashley McClung (Charleston, W.Va./George Washington) earned PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Week honors following a standout week for the Golden Knights last week. In two three-set victories over the weekend, McClung totaled 30 kills, six digs and five block assists. She hit .368 on the week with just five attack errors and scored 32.5 points on the week. To begin the week, McClung recorded 13 kills and four block assists in Tuesday's win over Mercyhurst at the Hammermill Center. Against the Lakers, McClung hit .345. She wrapped up the week with a season-high 17 kills, five digs and a block during a road win at Edinboro. She hit .385 with just two attack errors against the Fighting Scots.
 
This was McClung's third career PSAC Athlete of the Week award. McClung joins Ashley Beyers (Lanark, Ill./Eastland), Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute) and Lauren Sampson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) as PSAC West Athletes of the Week during the 2021 season.
 
KERESTES CAPTURES GANNON'S CAREER BLOCKS RECORD AGAINST SETON HILL; GREENFIELD CLIMBS INTO TOP 10
Ashley Kerestes (Loves Park, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) entered the 2021 season with 412 career total blocks, good for second all-time at Gannon. The redshirt senior middle blocker has added 68 blocks to her total this season, boosting her total to 480. That total broke Kara Cullen's previous mark of 463 that was set back in 2011.
 
In addition, redshirt junior middle blocker Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute) has moved into eighth place in GU history with 246 career blocks. Greenfield needs two more blocks to move passed Claren Harris for seventh in school history.
 
BEYERS CLOSING IN ON SCHOOL RECORD FOR ASSISTS - NEEDS 11 TO BREAK RECORD
Ashley Beyers (Lanark, Ill./Eastland), Gannon's redshirt senior setter, has moved into second place in career assists at GU following her 26-assist performance recently against Seton Hill (Sept. 25, 2021). The 2019 AVCA honorable mention All-American leads Gannon with 957 assists this season, boosting her career total to 4,234 assists. Megan Wendel (2011-14) holds the GU career record with 4,244 assists. Beyers' 4,234 career assists currently ranks fifth in Division II among active players. She also went over 1,000 career digs against Cal back on Oct. 15 and now has 1,094 career digs.
 
SAMPSON JOINS 1,000-KILL CLUB, MCCLUNG CLOSING IN ON 1,000 KILLS
Lauren Sampson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) became the 18th Gannon volleyball player to record 1,000 career kills against D'Youville back on Sept. 28, 2021. Sampson has recorded double-digit kills 17 times this season. Sampson currently has 1,155 career kills and ranks 12th in school history on the all-time kills list. She needs 61 more kills to move into 11th in program history past Kelsey Ansec (2014-17).
 
With 18 kills this weekend, Gannon senior right-side Ashley McClung (Charleston, W.Va./George Washington) would become the 19^th player in Gannon volleyball history to surpass 1,000 career kills. McClung recorded a season-high 17 kills at Edinboro last Friday and has reached double-figures in five of Gannon's last six matches. She has recorded double-digit kills in 10 matches this season.