A Year Ago 

2024 Record: 26-8 (13-1 PSAC) 

Result: NCAA Elite 8 (Lost to No. 3 Angelo State, 3-2) 

All American's Galore: Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union), Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell), Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) and Ali Sorenson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) all earned AVCA honorable mention All-American honors in 2024 

This Season 

PSAC Preseason Ranking: 1st, Western Division (four votes) 

Student-Athletes Departing: 6 

Incoming Freshmen: 7 

Key Returning Players: Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) (SR, Setter), Lauren Atwell (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) (JR, Middle Blocker), Carissa Treser (Sewickley, Pa./North Allegheny) (JR, Outside Hitter), Sydney Wake (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) (JR, Right Side), Kasey Smith (Meadville, Pa./Villa Maria) (Transfer (Edinboro), Middle Blocker) 

Key Dates 

Season Opener: Friday, September 5th vs. defending Div. II national champion Lynn (Garden City, NY) - 7:00 pm 

Home Opener: Friday, September 26th vs. Shepherd – 7:00 pm 

What To Expect 

It's never a "reload" year for head coach Matt Darling and the Golden Knights. But, replacing four All-Americans will be the challenge for GU ahead of the season. Gannon comes into 2025 with seven new freshmen and a senior transfer. The roster will look new.  

And yet the expectation remains the same. There are still several key pieces that return from last year's regional championship team, and as Darling points out later in this article, the last roster that looked like this one – made a far run.  

Here are some key things to watch for this year:  

1: New Faces – Seven freshmen come to campus this fall, looking to fill voids left by graduation from last season. Making up nearly half the roster, Darling expects healthy competition in preseason and wouldn't be surprised if one or multiple see a healthy dose of playing time early in the season. 

Darling: "This year may look very similar to the last time we had to do this, which was 2022. We had some good returning pieces, but we were going to have a lot of new kids on the court. It was a rough start for us, but once we hit our stride, we really were much better. I believe that [this season] can follow a similar trajectory." 

2: Kasey Comes North – In three seasons at Edinboro, middle blocker Kasey Smith (Meadville, Pa./Villa Maria) was a key part of the offense and now brings her talents to Gannon as she works on her master's degree here. With nearly 300 kills during her career so far, she's expected to play an integral role in the middle this year.  

Darling: "She is versatile. She can play probably two positions for us, in the middle and on the right. Having a bit more experience, somebody who knows the [PSAC], that will be good for us." 

3: Home Away From Home – Gannon opens the season against the defending national champion, Lynn, on September 5th. From there, GU plays a total of eleven games away from the Highmark Events Center to start the year. In total, Gannon will play a total of 13 matches against NCAA playoff teams from a year ago. 

4: Back in the Building – When Gannon DOES return home, on September 26th, it will be the program's first game inside the newly renovated Highmark Events Center. The Golden Knights haven't played in the building since December 1, 2023.  

Darling: "The best part of it was just truly realizing that we're actually back. We're very grateful, obviously, to Cathedral Prep for hosting us last year. But there's no place like home. We can't wait." 

5: In Darling We Trust – Since taking over the Gannon program in 2007 the Golden Knights have enjoyed incredible success. Darling enters his 19th season at the helm with a 432-151 record, a winning percentage of .740. He has guided Gannon to three Elite Eight appearances and NCAA Tournament berths 16 of 18 years. 

6: Standings Tight Again? - The PSAC West always proves to be a tough division. Gannon went 13-1 in conference play last season, but, as Darling notes, several teams lost key contributors to graduation a year ago. Despite the first-place preseason projection, the Golden Knights head coach anticipates another challenge.  

Darling: "Early in the season, I think you're going to see a lot of five-set matches and teams trying to earn pole position [in the conference]. Hopefully we can get on top of some of those games and go from there."