ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon women's volleyball team returned home for the first time this month, and the Golden Knights continued to a win streak that started at its last home match.
 
Coach Matt Darling's Knights swept the California (Pa.) 25-9, 25-11, 25-13 on Saturday afternoon at Hagerty Family Events Center for their seventh consecutive victory. That winning streak began with a three-set sweep of Indiana (Pa.) on Sept. 27, GU's last home match. In between, Gannon won five consecutive road matches, including three five-set thrillers.
 
There was no drama on Saturday, though, as Gannon put it all together in a match where it compiled a season-best .424 attack percentage. As result, the Knights improved to 14-5 and moved their first-place record 6-0 in the PSAC West.
 
California lost its 10th match in a row to fall to 3-13 overall and 0-7 in the PSAC West.
 
 
How it happened:
 
Gannon opened with a stunning .636 attack percentage in the first set as it recorded 16 kills with only two errors on 22 attacks. Gannon trailed 2-1 before Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) began a run of seven straight points that included six Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) serves. GU led 12-6 when Delaney Thomas (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) began a run of 10 straight serves that led to a 22-6 win. A block by Brook Gwiazda sealed a 25-9 set win.
 
In the second set, Gannon hit a solid .313 with 16 kills. Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) began the set with seven consecutive serves, including two aces, for an 8-0 GU lead. Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) and Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) each had two kills in that run. Gannon led 17-10 when Arslan had another run of seven serves to make the score 24-10. Ali Sorenson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) started that run with three consecutive kills.
 
Arslan opened the third set with eight more serves to give the Knights an 8-0 lead. With GU leading 19-12, Sarah Boyd (Erie, Pa./McDowell) had a run of five straight serves to push the lead to 24-12. Freshman Ella Woltman (Munster, Ind./Munster) capped the match with a kill.




By the numbers:

Koch led Gannon with 14 kills, while Sorenson had 13, and Blevins added 11. All three players posted lofty attack percentages as Sorenson led GU with a .709 percentage and just one error. Koch hit .500, while Blevins hit .313.
 
Gannon had 48 kills in the match to Cal's 15, and GU had 10 aces to Cal's one.
 
Arslan continued to run the offense efficiently as she dished out 36 assists in the three sets. She also had nine digs and five aces.
 
Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) led Gannon with 12 digs.
 
 
Up next:
 
Gannon will host a PSAC West opponent for the second consecutive day on Sunday when the Knights host Slippery Rock at 2 p.m. at Hagerty Family Events Center.