JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Gannon women's volleyball team helped head coach Matt Darling reach a career milestone on Friday night, and they did it with perhaps their most complete win of the season.

The Golden Knights recorded a season-best .424 hitting percentage as they swept a tough Pitt-Johnstown team 25-12, 25-16, 25-20 in dominant fashion at the Sports Center in Johnstown.

The victory was Gannon's 12th in a row and pushed their season record to 21-3 overall and 12-1 in the PSAC West.

The win also pushed Darling's career record to 400-141 in 17 seasons.

After Darling started his career with a 19-34 record in his first two seasons, Gannon has gone 381-107 over the past 15 years. Since 2016, Gannon is 222-37 for a remarkable winning percentage of .857. That eight-season span includes five 30-win seasons and a 29-win season in 2022.
 

What happened:

• Pitt-Johnstown came into the match with a 17-8 record and was ranked in the first Atlantic Region poll on Wednesday. The Mountain Cats were also coming off a recent sweep of powerful Clarion.
• However, Gannon took charge early on Friday, breezing to a 25-12 win in the first set, thanks to an eye-popping .528 hitting percentage with 20 kills and just one error on 36 attacks.
• GU's hitting was even better in the second set when the Golden Knights hit .560 with 17 kills and three errors on just 25 attacks. The result was a 25-16 win.
• Gannon's hitting cooled off in the third set, but the Knights still secured a 25-20 win to claim the three-set victory.

 
By the numbers:

• Junior outside hitter Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) paced Gannon with 15 kills, while senior outside hitter Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) and junior right side Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) added 13 kills apiece.
• Blake had a .500 hitting percentage, while Blevins hit .444, and Koch added a .360 mark.
• Sophomore Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) had 24 assists and senior Marta Roicka (Warsaw, Poland/North Central Texas Academy) added 22 at the two split the setting duties.
• Junior libero Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) had a team-high 15 digs for Gannon.
• Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) led GU with five service aces, while Koch and Lauren Atwell (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) each had four total blocks.

 
What's ahead:

On Saturday afternoon, Gannon will visit a red-hot IUP team that is coming off back-to-back sweeps of Pitt-Johnstown last week and Edinboro on Friday night. The Crimson Hawks (20-7 overall, 10-3 PSAC West) have won seven matches in a row. They prevailed in the first two sets against Gannon on Oct. 6 before GU rallied for a five-set win.