AVCA Tournament

Women's Volleyball Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Women's Volleyball Debuts in Tough Molloy Invitational

ERIE, Pa. – If an exhibition contest against Bowling Green wasn't enough to give Gannon University women's volleyball coach Matt Darling a sense of how good his team could be in 2021, this weekend's opening tournament might well do the trick. The Lady Knights open the 2021 season on Friday, September 3 and Saturday, September 4 in the Molloy Tournament.

The campaign gets underway with a 2 p.m. match on Friday against a Wilmington (Del.) squad that finished 20-14 in 2019. At 8 p.m. that evening, the Lady Knights play American International. AIC was 14-17 in 2019 and went 4-0 this past spring.

The going really gets tough the following day. It begins with an 11 a.m. match against host Molloy. The Lions were 28-5 in 2019, winning the NCAA East Regional to advance to the Elite Eight. They would lose to eventual national champion Cal St. San Bernardino in a quarterfinal contest.

The day wraps up with a rematch from the 2019 Elite Eight, when Nebraska-Kearney ended Gannon's run at a national championship with a 3-1 win. The Lopers would finish as the national runner-up that year with a 38-1 record. They are ranked fourth in the 2021 AVCA Division II Preseason Top 25, while Gannon is among others receiving votes. The match gets underway at 3 p.m.

"The tournament at Molloy should provide us with a great learning environment," Darling commented.  "With opponents that include two of the teams that made the quarterfinals in 2019 and another team that will compete for a regional title, this event should give us a great idea of where we need to focus our energies in the lead up to conference play.  We're looking forward to it."

Darling's Lady Knights turned in a strong showing in its exhibition match at Bowling Green. Whjile dropping a 3-1 decision, the score was hardly indicative of how tight the match was against a Division I program that made the 2020 NCAA Tournament and won the Mid-American Conference title. 

"Like everyone else, we're hopeful that this fall brings us the opportunity to compete in more "normal" circumstances than last year," stressed Darling.  No matter what else happens, we'll enjoy being back in our typical fall routine.  Beyond that, though, we feel like this season presents us with other great opportunities as well.  In particular, we'll have the opportunity to play some really good teams in the pre-season part of our schedule, and these teams will teach us much about who we are and what our strengths and weaknesses might be.  During practice, we've been focused on learning, and we feel like there are some good teachers on our schedule.

"Once we get into PSAC play, it will be interesting to see where everyone is in their development," he continued.  "With so few opportunities to play against conference opponents last year, I'm just not sure where we'll be vis-à-vis our PSAC opponents.  Hopefully we'll be ready."

Darling enters his 15th season as head coach and ranks as Gannon's all-time leader in wins with a 320-129 record. His squads have won two PSAC championships along with 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Gannon enters the season as the favorite in the PSAC Western Division. The Lady Knightgs finished the COVID-shortened 2021 campaign with an 18-4 record and was selected to play in the AVCA National Championships. Head coach Matt Darling's squad would go 2-4 at the National Championships, with wins over Texas Woman's and Arkansas Fort Smith.

The Lady Knights ended the season ranked 17th in the final AVCA Division II Top 25 poll, after climbing as high as eighth during the season. The eighth-place ranking represented the highest in school history. The Lady Knights have now qualified for the postseason the last 12 years, the previous 11 in the NCAA Division II Tournament. In 2019, Gannon was 30-7, winning the Atlantic Regional to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time under Darling and fourth time in school history.

Gannon returns plenty of firepower, led by a pair of 2019 AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans in redshirt senior setter Ashley Beyers (Lanark, Ill./Eastland) (Lanark, Ill./Eastland) and redshirt senior middle blocker Ashley Kerestes (Loves Park, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) (Loves Park, Ill./Rockford Lutheran). Beyers is a two-time All-PSAC first team selection, while Kerestes was a first team choice in 2019 and earned second team accolades in 2017.

In addition, Lauren Sampson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson), a senior outside hitter, was a second team All-PSAC pick in 2019, and was a first team honoree and the 2018 PSAC Freshman of the Year. Senior setter/defensive specialist Ashley McClung (Charleston, W.Va./George Washington) (Charleston, W.Va./George Washington) is a two-time All-PSAC pick, earning second team honors in 2018 and third team in 2019.

Gannon will continue its road swing the following weekend, competing in the Clarion Invitational on September 10-11. The Lady Knights play their first 13 matches on the road before the home opener against Seton Hill on September 25.
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Ashley Beyers

#5 Ashley Beyers

S
5' 11"
Redshirt Senior
Pre-Veterinary Medicine/Biology
Ashley Kerestes

#22 Ashley Kerestes

MB
6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
Physician Assistant/Nursing
Ashley McClung

#4 Ashley McClung

S/RS
6' 1"
Senior
Environmental Engineering
Lauren Sampson

#8 Lauren Sampson

OH
5' 10"
Senior
Physical Therapy

Players Mentioned

Ashley Beyers

#5 Ashley Beyers

5' 11"
Redshirt Senior
Pre-Veterinary Medicine/Biology
S
Ashley Kerestes

#22 Ashley Kerestes

6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
Physician Assistant/Nursing
MB
Ashley McClung

#4 Ashley McClung

6' 1"
Senior
Environmental Engineering
S/RS
Lauren Sampson

#8 Lauren Sampson

5' 10"
Senior
Physical Therapy
OH