TAMPA, Fla. – A year ago, the Gannon women's volleyball team learned a lot about itself during an early tournament when the Golden Knights went 1-3 against tough competition.
 
That set the stage for the Golden Knights' big 2022 season as they finished 29-6 and won PSAC and Atlantic Regional titles.
 
Coach Matt Darling's team again faced top competition on Saturday in the Tampa Classic as the Knights went 0-2. Gannon opened the season with a 3-1 victory over Missouri A&T on Friday before losing in sweeps against Central Missouri and No. 5-ranked Tampa. Gannon is hoping the tough competition will again help them prepare for the rigors of a long season.

 
Central Missouri 3, Gannon 0
 
In an 11 a.m. start, the first two sets were extremely close before Central Missouri pulled out 25-22 and 25-23 wins, respectively. Gannon fell behind midway through the third set to allow Central Missouri to secure the match victory with a 25-18 win.
 
"We saw some things that we liked and that will help us down the road this season, so that's a positive thing from this morning," Darling said after the morning match. "In the first two sets, we were in a position to win but committed too many errors to beat a team that itself was playing really clean volleyball. Credit should be given to Central Missouri for keeping plays alive and scoring in the crucial moments."
 
That was a formula that Gannon had used in its opening win over Missouri S&T on Friday when the Knights made key plays at decisive moments.
 
Junior transfer Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) led Gannon with 17 kills, while freshman Nehir Yazicioglu (Ankara, Turkey) recorded 11 kills. Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) had eight kills and six blocks.
 
Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) paced GU with 36 assists, Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) had 21 digs, and freshman Lauren Atwell (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) had six blocks.

 
Tampa 3, Gannon 0
 
In the 8 p.m. nightcap of the tournament, the No. 5-ranked Tampa Spartans held off Gannon 25-19 in the first set before claiming the second and third sets by 25-14 and 25-13 scores, respectively. Tampa went 3-0 in the weekend event.

"We had a hard time getting off the starting line against Tampa tonight, but the weekend overall probably gave us what we needed at this point in the year," Darling said. "We'll just get back to work next week, and figure out the next step on this journey."

 For the third straight match, junior transfer Blevins led Gannon with 12 kills. She had 52 kills on the weekend after getting 23 on Friday and 17 in Saturday's first match.
 
Setter Marta Roicka (Warsaw, Poland/North Central Texas Academy) came off the bench to lead Gannon with 16 assists. Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) had 13 digs.
 

Next week
 
Gannon's early season run of road matches continues in West Virginia next weekend when the Knights compete in the University of Charleston's UC Invitational. Gannon will play two matches on Friday and two on Saturday.