ASHLAND, Ohio – The Gannon women's volleyball will take some momentum into its home-opening weekend.
 
Coach Matt Darling's Golden Knights concluded a run of eight consecutive road matches to open the season on Wednesday night by winning their fifth match in row. Gannon rolled to a 25-13, 25-21, 25-17 victory over an Ashland team that entered the evening with a 6-2 record.
 
Gannon improved to 6-2 overall going into its home opener against Kutztown on Friday night at Highmark Events Center. The Knights were coming off a 4-0 weekend at the University of Charleston Invitational.
 
 
What happened:
 
The Golden Knights took control immediately, racing to a 14-5 lead in the first set.
 
Gannon also led 16-9 in the second set before holding off Ashland for a 25-21 win.
 
The Golden Knights had an impressive .412 hitting percentage with 48 kills on 102 attacks with just six attack errors. The Eagles hit just .078 as Gannon's tall front line asserted itself on defense.
 
A lot of players continued to make big contributions for Gannon.
 
 
By the numbers:
 
Junior outside hitter Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) led Gannon with 16 kills, the eighth consecutive match that she has led GU. She hit .438.
 
Junior middle blocker Ali Sorenson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) had a career-high 13 kills and hit a remarkable .750 with just one error in 16 attacks.
 
Senior outside hitter Madde Blake (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) had 10 kills to give Gannon three players in double figures.
 
Redshirt junior Marta Roicka (Warsaw, Poland/North Central Texas Academy) made her third consecutive start at setter and dished out 32 assists.
 
Junior libero Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) had 21 digs. She climbed into eighth place on Gannon's career list with 1,352 digs, moving past B.J. Ozenc (1,335 digs, 1998-2001). Hall is the reigning PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week.
 
 
Quotable
 
"There were many things to like about our performance tonight, starting with the play of Ali and Marta and continuing all the way through the lineup," Darling said. "The blocking was also in the plus column.  It all added up to a pretty good road win against a solid program."
 

What's next:

Gannon will face Kutztown on Friday at 7 p.m. at Highmark Events Center. The Golden Knights will then wake up early on Saturday morning to host Bloomsburg at 10 a.m.