BOXSCORE

CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Gannon volleyball team ended the 2011 season Thursday night with a 3-1 loss to Edinboro in the first round of the NCAA Tournament hosted on the Campus of California (Pa.). The Lady Knights lost in sets of 25-22, 25-22, 19-25 and 25-23.

Gannon struggled during the opening points, allowing Edinboro to build a 13-6 lead. However, the Lady Knights fought back with two kills from Morgan Reineke (New Knoxville, Ohio / New Knoxville). Gannon then put together a 6-1 run, that cut the lead to 20-18. A kill from Maggie Desrosiers (Uniontown, Ohio / Hoover) and an ace from Lauren Sazama (St. Louis, Mo. / Oakville) tied the score at 21. However, Edinboro answered with the next two points, eventually winning 25-22.

Gannon held an 18-15 lead in the second set, but saw Edinboro post a 5-0 run behind the serve of Seth Sullivan to take a 20-18 lead. Edinboro would finish out the second set with two kills from Sullivan to take a 2-0 lead.

Gannon was much improved in the third set using a big 5-0 run to take the lead late. Behind the serve of Sazama, the Lady Knights forced four straight Edinboro attack errors. Courtney Cook (Middleburg Heights, Ohio / St. Peter Chanel) and Claren Harris (South Milwaukee, Wis. / South Milwaukee) teamed up on a block before Harris added a solo on the next point. Closing on a 7-1 run, Gannon took the third set 25-19.

The match looked to be headed for a fifth set, with the Lady Knights holding a 23-17 lead late in the fourth. However, Edinboro again rallied behind the serve of Sullivan to change the momentum. The sophomore led the Fighting Scots on an 8-0 run to close out the final set, recording two aces.

The two teams were close offensively, with Gannon hitting .183 and Edinboro at .178. The Fighting Scots held an edge in kills (55-43) and digs (74-57), while the Lady Knights produced five more blocks and 11 fewer attack errors than Edinboro.

Sazama was the only Lady Knight to reach double digits in kills with 14. She finished with 12 digs, two aces and one block assist. Kara Cullen (Marstons Mills, Mass. / Barnstable) and Reineke each finished with eight kills. Cullen added a solo block and four block assists, while Reineke finished with five digs and three block assists.

Alex DelPiombo (Monroe, Mich. / St. Mary's Catholic Central) had a match-high 27 assists while Taryn Graham (Huron, Ohio / Huron) finished with a match-best 20 digs.

Gannon finishes the season at 20-12 after making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and third straight season of at least 20 wins. Both are first such streaks for the program since the 1993-95 seasons.