DALLAS – No. 8 Gannon was edged by No. 3 Hillsdale, 3-2, before bouncing back with a sweep over Texas Woman's, 3-0, in day two at the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Championship Tournament at Dallas Convention Center.

"We're happy to have picked up a win today to extend our season by least one more match, so going 1-1 today was not a bad result," said head coach Matt Darling. "Against Hillsdale, we played pretty well but couldn't catch the break we needed to win, so we took another five-set defeat. This was our second match against them this year, and it was another highly competitive contest.  We just need to learn how to win these close ones."

Gannon opened the day falling in the first set against Hillsdale, 25-20. The Knights locked the contest back up after winning set two, 25-20. Gannon and Hillsdale then went on to split the following two sets with the Chargers grabbing set three, 25-22, before the Knights stole set four, 25-22. However, Hillsdale went on to edge Gannon in the deciding fifth frame, 15-13.

Lauren Sampson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) filled her stat line with 23 kills, 11 digs, three aces and one block. Kristin Schorr (Evansville, Ind./North Posey) also notched a double-double 14 kills and 14 digs to go along with two aces. Ashley Kerestes (Loves Park, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) reached the double-digit mark in kills with 10 and one block. Kenzie Lasher (Ford City, Pa./Armstrong) rounded out the top performers against Hillsdale with 26 digs.

Gannon bounced back in its second match of the day sweeping Texas Woman's, 3-0. It marked the Knights' 12th sweep of the season. Gannon got things rolling stealing the first frame, 25-14. The Knights took the control after taking set two, 25-19, before winning the third and final set, 25-23.

Sampson continued her big day connecting on a team-high 13 kills with seven digs, two aces and 1.5 blocks. Schorr also reached the double figure mark in kills with 11 to go along with six digs and two aces. Lasher set the standard on the defensive end with a team-best 15 digs.

"In the second match, we finally played with the lead, and that's been a more comfortable situation for us.  We felt in control of the match against Texas Woman's, although nothing came easy.  Even though we're not playing as well as we'd like, the effort has been tremendous, and I'm proud of the players."

Gannon will be back in action tomorrow against Arkansas Fort Smith at 11:00 AM ET in the silver bracket.

For more AVCA National Championship Tournament information click here.