CALIFORNIA, Pa. – It took one set for the Gannon women's volleyball team to get going, but once the Golden Knights did get things figured out, they rolled to victory over California (Pa.).
 
After more than a week since their last match, the PSAC West regular-season champion came out slowly, losing the first set 25-20 to the last-place Vulcans. Gannon then won the final three sets 25-12, 25-13, 25-17 at Cal's Convocation Center.
 
Gannon improved to 20-6 overall and 12-1 in the PSAC West. The Knights already have clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Division and will host a PSAC quarterfinal on Tuesday evening against an opponent to be determined. If Gannon wins the quarterfinal, it will host the PSAC Final Four on Nov. 22-23.
 
"It feels good to get a win tonight against a Cal team that played hard," Darling said. "(Setters) Bengisu (Arslan) and Ava (Gainer) did a great job of spreading the offense, and it was nice to see so many players in double digits for kills."
 
Five players ended up with double-figure kills for the Knights.
 
Cal closed the season at 3-20 overall and 0-14 in the PSAC West.
 

How it happened:
 
Gannon started slowly in the first set. After Cal took a 7-6 lead, the Vulcans went on a 10-5 run to increase their lead to 17-11. Gannon eventually cut the lead to 20-18 on Ali Sorenson's (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) block. However, Cal scored five of the next seven points, including a kill by Elisa Rugiero on set point.
 
Gannon was a different team in the second set. A Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) kill gave Gannon a 9-3 lead, and a kill by Carissa Treser (Sewickley, Pa./North Allegheny) later made it 15-8. Consecutive kills by Blevins and a kill by Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) made it 20-11. Koch eventually sealed the set with a kill for a 25-12 score.
 
Gannon raced to a 10-2 lead in the third set and Cal never got closer than six points the rest of the way. Blevins converted back-to-back kills to secure the 25-13 set victory.
 
Gannon led all the way in the fourth set as it secured its 20th victory of the season.


By the numbers:

Blevins paced Gannon with 16 kills, and Koch had 15. Lauren Atwell (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) and Carissa Treser (Sewickley, Pa./North Allegheny) recorded 11 kills each, and Ali Sorenson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) added 10. Atwell led Gannon with a .529 hitting percentage and she recorded a team-high five total blocks, all assists.
 
Junior setter Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) finished with a team-high 37 assists, and freshman setter Ava Gainer (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) added a season-best 19 assists.
 
Senior libero Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) led Gannon with 30 digs. Already Gannon's career digs leader with 2,330 digs, she became the first player in Gannon history with four 500-dig seasons. She has 520 on the season.
 
Arslan had 13 digs, Blevins had 12, Treser added 10.
 
 
What's ahead:
 
Gannon will close the regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Slippery Rock before hosting a PSAC quarterfinal match on Tuesday.