Koch
1
Shaw Shaw 29-5,15-1 CIAA
3
Winner Gannon Gannon 24-7,13-1 PSAC
Shaw Shaw
29-5,15-1 CIAA
1
Final
3
Gannon Gannon
24-7,13-1 PSAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Shaw Shaw 21 21 25 22 (1)
Gannon Gannon 25 25 21 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Golden Knights Advance to Atlantic Regional Semifinals with Four-Game Win over Shaw

Hailey Koch joins 1,000-kill club

ERIE, Pa. – The top-seeded Gannon volleyball team opened action in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional with a 3-1 quarterfinal win over a stubborn Shaw team. The Golden Knights now advance to play West Virginia State in Saturday's semifinals at 7: 00 p.m. on Saturday night. Gannon is hosting the Atlantic Regional at Cathedral Prep's Hagerty Family Events Center.

Gannon snapped the Bears' 16-game winning streak while prevailing by scores of 25-21, 25-21, 21-25 and 25-22. The Golden Knights improved 24-7 while Shaw, the CIAA champion, concludes the year at 30-5.

The seeds held true on Thursday with the exception of West Virginia State. The No. 5 Yellow Jackets outlasted defending Atlantic Regional champion Clarion, the fourth seed, 3-2. Friday's other semifinal match gets underway at 4:00 p.m. with No. 2 seed Indiana (Pa.) facing No. 3 seed Wheeling. IUP, the PSAC champions, defeated No. 7 Shepherd 3-0 while Wheeling won in four games over No. 6 Pitt-Johnstown.   

A year ago Shaw came in as the seventh seed and shocked No. 2 Wheeling in the opening round for the first win by a CIAA team in the first round. Thoughts of that upset arose as Friday's match went on. The Golden Knights were never able to put the eight seed away as the Bears continually battled back.

In fact, in a similar scenario to last year, Gannon won the first two games but Shaw battled back to win game three and rallied to push the Golden Knights to the brink in the fourth game. This time Gannon prevailed, however, scoring the final three points after Shaw had rallied from seven points down to tie the fourth game at 22-22.

Gannon has now advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic Regional for the ninth straight year. The Golden Knights last lost in the opening round to Seton Hill in 2014.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1 – Gannon found itself trailing 12-4 early in the match to a Shaw team that dressed just eight players but still had five of six All-CIAA players competing. That included CIAA Setter of the Year Manuela Cripa Nasser. Gannon used a 14-5 run to finally catch the Bears. Sydney Wake's (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) kill gave Gannon its first lead of the match at 18-17. A service error tied the match at 18-18, but Gannon scored the next four points, including a pair of Journey Blevins' (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) kills, and closed out the game with a 25-21 win. Blevins and Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) each had seven kills in the opening set.

"I thought getting the first set win was important for us because we haven't always played well at the outset of matches and at times we've been able to come back and win and it hasn't been a problem", related head coach Matt Darling. "In our most recent match we were a little bit flat in the first set and came all the way back and lost a close one and I don't think that was a great way for us to start. Glad we got that first one."

Game 2 – The Golden Knights looked to be hitting their stride in the second game, taking a 13-7 lead. But the Bears refused to go away and the Golden Knights suddenly found themselves clinging to a 22-21 lead after Shaw scored four of five previous points. The Bears would get no closer as a Blevins kill and a Shaw hitting error left the match at game point. Koch and Ali Sorenson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) combined on a block for the 25-21 win.

Game 3 – A back-and-forth third game featured nine ties and four lead changes. Shaw never allowed the Golden Knights to gain much momentum and when the Bears ran of five of six points they led 16-13. Gannon regained the lead once after that thanks to a Wake kill that made it 18-17. But Shaw responded with three straight points and ended up outscoring Gannon 8-3 the rest of the way.   

Now up 2-1, Darling had a simple message heading into the fourth game.  "The message came from the team," he noted. "I told them we're good, we just have to bounce back, gotta play a little better. The energy was still pretty good. Again, a veteran team I didn't have a lot to say."

Game 4 – While Darling relied on his veteran leadership to capture the win, the fourth quarter definitely evoked memories of last year's Shaw's upset in the opening round. "They were mounting a very significant comeback in the fourth set," he noted. "We had a couple big kills, Journey had a couple big kills, Hailey came up with a big kill. I thought the play that really kind of saved us was when their setter came up to try to attack and Ali jumped and blocked it to give us that 24th point. That was a big point."
In a match that saw all kinds of ebbs and flows, Gannon never trailed after Shaw led 3-2. In fact, the Golden Knights built a seemingly comfortable lead at 20-13 thanks to a 9-3 run. But back came the Bears, eventually tying the game at 22-22. Belvins gave Gannon the lead for good with a kill, and Sorenson's kill had the Golden Knights at match point. The match ended with a bit of controversy and Gannon calling for a review following a close play at the net. It was finally determined that Shaw's kills attempt hit the pole rather than Gannon's block.

BY THE NUMBERS
Gannon ended up hitting .211 on the night. The Golden Knights had two solid games with a .256 figure in the first game and .265 in the second, but they were limited to .139 and .189 over the next two games. Shaw ended the night at .153.

Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) led Gannon with 20 kills, adding a season-high 19 digs. The senior outside hitter has now had three games with 20-or-more kills despite missing a period of time with an injury.

Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) added 14 kills, in the process reaching 1,000 kills for her career. The senior right side hitter reached the plateau with a kill midway through the first set. She now has 1012 career kills.

Senior setter Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) had 44 assists and nine digs, while Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) had 17 digs. Carissa Treser (Sewickley, Pa./North Allegheny) contributed nine kills and eight digs, while Ali Sorenson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) also had nine kills to go with two block solos and two block assists. Lauren Atwell (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) had five block assists.   

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Gannon faces another team riding a long winning streak on Friday night, hosting West Virginia State in the semifinals. The Yellow Jackets win the MEC championship and have won 14 straight matches and come in with a 24-9 record. The two teams met on September 21 at West Liberty with Gannon winning in three games.
 
 
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