INDIANA, PA – The Gannon women's volleyball team needed one win to set up a first-place showdown with Clarion on Saturday.

The Golden Knights got it Friday with a four-set victory over IUP at the Kovalchick Convention & Athletic Complex. They won by scores of 25-21, 25-19, 20-25, 25-20.

Coach Matt Darling's team improved to 22-5 overall and 14-1 in the PSAC West. The Golden Knights claimed their 10th victory in a row and 16th out of the past 17 matches. The Knights' only loss in that stretch has been a 3-0 sweep at the hands of Clarion.

Gannon will visit Clarion on Saturday at 1 p.m., and the winner will take first place for the regular season, while also earning the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage in the PSAC Tournament. Clarion beat Edinboro in four sets on Friday to improve to 24-2 overall and 14-1 in the PSAC West.

Against IUP, Gannon took the first two sets before the Crimson Hawks bounced back to win the third. The Golden Knights damaged IUP's hopes of a fifth set by taking leads of 10-3, 15-7, and 20-10 in the fourth set. IUP went on a 10-3 run to cut the lead to 23-20. However, a solo block by sophomore right side Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) eventually sealed Gannon's 25-20 win. It was her team-high fifth block of the match.

Junior outside hitter Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) led Gannon with 14 kills while adding 13 digs, three aces, and three blocks.

Sophomore outside hitter Sam Deinek (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon East) added 11 kills, Koch compiled nine kills and senior middle blocker Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute) added eight.

Freshman setter Bengisu Arlsan finished with a team-high 31 assists and added 13 digs. Sophomore libero Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) paced Gannon with 18 digs.

IUP dropped to 19-7 and 9-6.