ERIE, Pa. - The crowd at the Hammermill Center must have been confused Saturday night. On senior night, the fans weren’t sure what they would have by the end of the night. Gannon fans thought it would be all treats early, but then they were tricked. Finally, the energetic crowd was rewarded with the final treat of the night. The Gannon volleyball team beat Edinboro in five sets, as the Lady Knights won by scores of 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 12-25, and 15-8 in the key Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West match.
GU took the first two sets before the Fighting Scots responded with wins in games three and four. In the decisive fifth set, the Knights came out hot, scoring seven of the first eight points in the frame. The teams traded points to put Gannon ahead 12-6. A
Lauren Sazama (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) kill and an Edinboro attack error put the Scots on the brink. Then,
Maire Prybyl (Mars, Pa./North Catholic) set up
Kara Cullen (Marstons Mills, Mass./Barnstable) for a match-ending kill.
GU came out with two of its strongest sets of the season to start the contest. In the first set, the Knights hit .355 with 13 kills.
Morgan Reineke (New Knoxville, Ohio/New Knoxville) recorded five kills on her own as Gannon scored the final four points of the frame. Reineke put her team ahead with a kill and then followed with an ace.
Claren Harris (South Milwaukee, Wis./S. Milwaukee) blocked an Edinboro attack and then
Lindsey Deitmen (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) finished the set with a kill, assisted by Prybyl.
Gannon was just as solid in the second frame, hitting .379 as a team. Neither team could gain a lead of more than four points throughout the set, but the Knights scored three of the last four to take the game. A Reineke kill put GU up 2-0 in the match.
The Fighting Scots answered in the third and fourth sets, though. Edinboro pulled away from a tie at 19 to win the third game and then hit .400 while containing Gannon to a -.029 hitting rate to tie the match.
The Lady Knights are 20-8 overall and 11-6 in the PSAC. Edinboro is 21-10 overall and 12-5 in the conference. The win gives GU a one game lead over Mercyhurst for fourth place in the PSAC West with two matches to play.
Gannon goes on its final regular season road trip next weekend, facing Slippery Rock Friday, November 6, and then Clarion Saturday, November 7.
For a complete box score from Saturday’s Edinboro-Gannon match,
click here.