DALLAS – No. 8 Gannon fell short in five sets to No. 3 Hillsdale, 3-2, in the silver bracket final on Saturday afternoon at the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Championship Tournament at Dallas Convention Center.
 
"I'm proud of the team's efforts today, despite the loss," said head coach Matt Darling. "Today's match was another instance where we played pretty well but couldn't finish the job.  Most of the credit has to go to Hillsdale, who played a great match and controlled play in the last three sets.  They picked up their defense, and we couldn't put enough balls away to stay close.  But we kept swinging away and never stopped playing hard."

After both teams were locked at 15-15 in set one, Gannon rattled off four unanswered points to make the score 19-15 after a block from Kristin Schorr (Evansville, Ind./North Posey). The Golden Knights won the opening frame, 25-19, following a block from Laura Bebinger (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute). Gannon opened the second set building a 9-6 edge after a kill from Ashley McClung (Charleston, W.Va./George Washington). The Knights won the second stanza, 25-22, following a kill from Lauren Sampson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson).

Hillsdale then stormed back in set three building a 15-10 advantage and went on to win the set, 25-16. The Chargers continued to apply pressure into the fourth set opening up a 17-12 edge by the midway point. Gannon battled back to pull within two, 17-15, after kills from Sampson and Bebinger. However, Hillsdale closed out the frame, 25-18, and forced a fifth set.

Both teams battled in the fifth frame to lock the contest, 8-8. Hillsdale then took advantage of a kill and three Gannon attack errors to create a 12-8 lead. The Chargers didn't look back from there and went on to win the frame, 15-10, and the match, 3-2.

Sampson notched a double-double with 26 kills and 14 digs. Schorr added in 19 digs with eight kills and three blocks. Kenzie Lasher (Ford City, Pa./Armstrong) (24) and Valeria Torres (Gurabo, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame) (13) rounded out the top performers both reaching double digits in digs.

"Looking at the tournament as a whole, I think we have to be honest in assessing where we are," said Darling. "On one hand, we could say that we probably could have, or even should have, won the three five-set matches that we lost, so maybe it's a compliment to our team that we hung in there with some great teams.  However, we coaches also need to take note of where we need to get better, and that involves training, recruiting, everything.  There is much work to do."

Gannon finishes the spring season with an 18-4 overall record, including a 6-0 mark at home.

"Looking at things with a wider lens, I have to give full marks to the entire team for what they've done this year," said Darling. "In a period where every aspect of life was disrupted almost daily, these players showed up every day, with a great attitude, and worked hard for each other.  I'm as proud, if not more proud, of this team than I have been of any team I've ever coached.  I will always love this group for what they've done this year."

For more AVCA National Championship Tournament information click here.