The Gannon University women's volleyball team opened the season with a sweep against Malone University on Friday at the Highmark Events Center.
The Golden Knights, ranked No. 18 nationally in NCAA Division II, claimed a 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 victory over the Pioneers in the first match of the two-day, five-match Gannon-Mercyhurst Invitational.
"Relief is my biggest feeling," Gannon coach Matt Darling. "Coming into the match, there were so many uncertainties and so many differences from the team we've been putting on the court the last few years. I thought we just really needed to get on the court against an opponent that we really didn't know and see what we could do. So to get a win feels really good."
Sam Deinek (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon East) led Gannon with 15 kills, while Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute) had 11. Greenfield registered her kills on just 17 attacks, giving her an outstanding attack percentage of .647. Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) and Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) added six kills each.
"We've been saying all along that what we really needed with this team is for our returning starters to put up some numbers for us, and Maggie Greenfield (Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate Institute) and Sam Deinek (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon East) certainly did that," Darling said. "I thought our passing was pretty good tonight, but those two (Greenfield and Deinek) scored virtually error-free and scored a lot of points for us. So that was critical. I thought the setting was good. I thought the first touch was good. It was a good performance."
In her first match with Gannon, setter Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey) dished out 37 assists. Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) had 16 digs, Lara Toruner (Istanbul, Turkey/Terakki Foundation) added 12, while Arslan had 11 and Deinek contributed 10.
On Saturday, Gannon will face Notre Dame College at 10 a.m. and Grand Valley State at 5 p.m.
Here's a look at Friday's results and Saturday's schedule:
Friday:
Gannon def. Malone 27-27, 25-20, 25-16
Malone def. Notre Dame College 22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-15, 15-11
Saturday:
Gannon vs. Notre Dame, 10 a.m.
Grand Valley State vs. Malone, 2 p.m.
Gannon vs. Grand Valley State, 5 p.m.
