ERIE, Pa. – Coach Matt Darling was reminded of two things during his team's four-set win over California (Pa.) on Friday night.

First, the PSAC West is a very strong division considering a Cal team that is 2-9 pushed a heavily favored Gannon team to the limit for the second match in a row.

Second, Darling's Golden Knights often play their best volleyball when they play under duress.

Gannon held off several Cal surges in the fourth set and outlasted the tough Vulcans 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 30-28 at the Highmark Events Center. Earlier this season, Gannon lost the first two sets at California before winning the final three sets for a five-set victory.

"I'm glad it was a win," Darling said. "I give Cal a lot of credit. They played us tough twice this year."

Gannon, now 19-3 overall, won its 10th match in row to improve to 10-1 in the PSAC West. GU now has a two-game lead in the standings. Pitt-Johnstown upset second-place Clarion in three sets on Friday as
the Golden Eagles dropped to 9-3. It was another case of a PSAC West team upsetting a division favorite.
 

What happened:

Gannon won the first set relatively comfortably 25-19 on Friday and rolled to a 16-11 lead in the second set. That's when the match got interesting. The Vulcans outscored the Knights 14-3 the rest of the way to take the second set 25-19.

Gannon led only 21-20 in the third set when GU ran off the final four points on two kills by senior outside hitter Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) and two by junior right side Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge).

The fourth set was a wild, back-and-forth affair with both teams experiencing big swings in momentum and emotion. The score was tied 20-20 when Cal standout Elisa Rugiero had back-to-back kills to give the Vulcans a 22-20 lead. However, after a GU timeout, the Knights came back to tie it at 23.

"That's this team right now. They don't hit the panic button in the end game," he said. "We're probably better in the end game with our backs against the wall than we are at any other time."

Gannon had four match points, but each time Cal won the point. The Vulcans had one set point, but Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) again stepped up and got the kill to tie it at 26. Blake got two more kills before senior middle hitter Makenna Gavin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth) ended the match with a kill.
 

Gannon wins the fourth set 30-28 and improves to 19-3 overall and 10-1 in the PSAC West. Here's match point.
?@GannonU? pic.twitter.com/Y9gq5EkotA

— Gannon Athletics (@GUKnights) October 28, 2023

Blake led Gannon with 20 kills and an impressive .373 hitting percentage. She also called for the ball when the match was on the line at the end.

"I have to give our team credit. We were down. We have an injury. For the first time all year, (middle blocker) Ali (Sorenson) wasn't on the court, and we had to figure it out. And we did it with a lot of help from Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central), who just stepped up and had an unbelievable match tonight.

"It's not just her point scoring. It's, 'Hey, I'm the one who needs to do this right now; let me do it.'"

 
By the numbers:

Blake finished with a double-double after getting 18 digs to go with her 20 kills.

Junior outside hitter Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) also had a double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs.

Freshman right side Sydney Wake (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) played a key role in Gannon's win with seven kills off the bench. She hit .313, and "looked great," Darling said. "She's a good athlete."

Junior libero Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) led all players with 23 digs, and setter Marta Roicka (Warsaw, Poland/North Central Texas Academy) had 31 assists.

Rugiero was a force for Cal with a match-high 24 kills.

"We had no answer for Rugiero, their big dog," Darling said. "She was front row, back row – wherever she was, she was scoring."
 

What's ahead:

Gannon will host a solid Seton Hill team on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Golden Knights will conduct Senior Day activities as four seniors will be honored after the match.