ERIE, PA. – The first two sets were more difficult than the Gannon women's volleyball team might have hoped, but the Golden Knights eventually won their NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional opener on Friday.

That, after all, is the key to the postseason: win and advance.

No. 8-seeded Elizabeth City State gave No. 1-seeded Gannon a rough time in the first two sets as the Golden Knights labored to 25-22 and 25-19 wins. In the third set, Gannon looked more like its recent self. The Knights rolled to a 25-10 win to complete a sweep of the visitors from North Carolina at the Highmark Events Center. Coach Matt Darling's team has now won 15 in a row and 21 of its past 22 matches.

Gannon (27-5) will prepare for a semifinal matchup with the No. 4-seeded University of Charleston (33-4), which advanced with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-19 victory over No. 5 Fairmont State. The Golden Knights and Golden Eagles will meet in Saturday's second semifinal at 7:30 p.m.

Gannon hosted a full day of Atlantic Regional volleyball at Highmark Events Center. In the end the though, the four highest seeds all advanced with sweeps.

In the first two quarterfinals on Friday, No. 3 Wheeling defeated No. 6 IUP, and No. 2 Clarion topped No. 7 West Liberty. That set up an intriguing matchup between a pair of powerhouse teams on Saturday at 5 p.m. when Wheeling meets Clarion at Highmark Events Center.

Gannon struggled against Elizabeth City State's serve in the first set Friday as the Vikings racked up six aces. The set was tied 18-18 before ECSU had three consecutive attack errors. A block by Sam Deinek (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon East) and Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute) eventually gave GU a 25-22 win.

However, Gannon improved throughout the match to secure the sweep.

Deinek, a sophomore outside hitter, had another outstanding match. She led the Knights with 12 kills with just one attack error while logging a hitting percentage of .550. Junior outside hitter Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) added eight kills and seven digs.

Freshman setter Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey) had 28 assists for Gannon, and sophomore libero Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) added a team-high 13 digs.

Elizabeth Kellum led ECSU with 10 kills while adding 10 digs and nine assists.

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Here's a look at Saturday's semifinal matchups:

5:00 p.m. – No. 2 Clarion (27-4) vs. No. 3 Wheeling (27-7)
7:30 p.m. – No. 1 Gannon (27-5) vs. No. 4 Charleston (33-4)