ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon women's volleyball team couldn't have had a much more complete win than it experienced in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional on Thursday.

Shortly after watching one of the biggest upsets in Atlantic Region history, coach Matt Darling's Golden Knights made sure they weren't the next upset victims.

No. 1-seeded Gannon dominated every phase of the game on its home court as it rolled to a 25-12, 25-14, 25-15 victory over No. 8-seeded West Liberty.  It was the third of four quarterfinals played at the Highmark Events Center on Thursday after Gannon earned the right to host the tournament for the second consecutive year.

Gannon improved to 27-4 and will face the IUP in the semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Highmark Events Center. IUP swept 25-22, 25-16,  25-17 to earn a matchup against GU.

Gannon won less than an hour after the No. 7-seeded Shaw University Bears upset No. 2 Wheeling after falling behind 2-0. The Bears rallied for a stunning 17-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-8 victory.

Shaw will face high-powered Clarion, which swept West Virginia State 25-17, 25-21, 25-10 in the first quarterfinal. The Bears and Golden Eagles will meet on Friday at 5 p.m. in the first semifinal.
 



What happened:

Gannon had a tremendous start, scoring the first eight points of the match. Sophomore setter Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) was serving during that entire run, and she recorded five aces. (She finished with a match-high six aces.)

West Liberty never got closer than six points the rest of the first set as Gannon rolled to a 25-12 win. Junior outside hitter Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) led Gannon with seven kills in the set, including each of the final three points of the set.

In the second set, Gannon led 8-7 when the Golden Knights went on a 10-2 run to take an 18-10 lead. GU coasted form there before freshman right side Sydney Wake (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) got a kill on match point to secure a 25-14 win.

Gannon called a timeout in the third set after West Liberty pulled to within 12-10. The Golden Knights outscored the Hilltopper 13-5 the rest of the way. The match ended on back-to-back kills by Blevins.
 

By the numbers:

Blevins led Gannon with 13 kills, while senior outside hitter and junior right side Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) each had 10.

Arslan led Gannon with 19 assists, while Marta Roicka (Warsaw, Poland/North Central Texas Academy) was right behind with 18 assists.

Junior libero Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) had another strong performance with 12 digs, including several with a high degree of difficulty.

Gannon had an excellent hitting percentage of .310 while limiting West Liberty to .060. Gannon had nine total blocks to West Liberty's one.

The Golden Knights also had nine aces, while WLU had none.