ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit and knocked off Shippensburg 3-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Semifinals Friday night before a large crowd of 742 fans at the Hammermill Center. The Lady Knights advanced by scores of 19-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19 and 15-13.
The verdict pushed Gannon into Saturday's PSAC championship match against Lock Haven. The Bald Eagles slipped by California (Pa.) 3-2 (25-22, 16-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-12) during Friday's opener. Gannon's championship appearance will be the first time in school history the Lady Knights have played in a conference championship.
Shippensburg came out with guns blazing, taking an early lead with a 25-19 win during the first set. The Raiders jumped out to a 7-2 advantage and never looked back. The squad held the lead during the entire set, owning its biggest lead at seven points on five different occasions before settling for a six-point win. The Raiders hit .343 during the opening frame with 16 kills and four errors in 35 attempts.
The second set was nip-and-tuck as neither team could manage a lead bigger than four points. Despite leading for the majority of the set, Gannon found itself behind 23-20 after a 10-3 Shippensburg run. But the Lady Knights rallied with the last five points of the set. The run sandwiched three attack errors with kills from
Morgan Walters (Girard, Ohio/Girard) and
Lauren Sazama (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville).
Gannon and Shippensburg fought to 12 different ties during the third stanza. The Lady Knights held a 21-20 advantage when Jill Edwards forged the 12th tie with a kill. The swing sparked a set-clinching 5-0 run that included three kills, a service ace and an attack error on the final play.
With the large crowd getting behind the Lady Knights, Gannon surged ahead during the fourth set with its title hopes fading. The Lady Knights scored the first three points and eventually grabbed a 9-4 advantage. The home team held a minimal lead until pulling away late. Leading 18-16, Gannon rattled off five of the next six points.
The blitz opened with back-to-back kills from
Morgan Reineke (New Knoxville, Ohio/New Knoxville) and
Sarah Glancy (Walled Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central), before ending with consecutive attack errors. Sazama officially tied the contest at two with a booming kill that resulted in a 25-19 decision.
After allowing the first point, Gannon ripped off five straight points to assume a 5-2 lead in the decisive set. Shippensburg responded with a 6-2 run of its own to forge back in front 8-7. Reineke and
Taryn Graham (Huron, Ohio/Huron) then flipped the score with kills, before Sazama forced Ship to call time-out with consecutive kills that gave the Lady Knights an 11-8 edge.
Shippensburg pulled within 14-13 on an Edwards kill. Head coach
Matt Darling then called time-out. With the crowd on its feet and a deafening roar, the Raiders hit their serve too long and set off a Gannon celebration with a 15-13 victory.
Sazama led Gannon with her 20th double-double of the season and 68th of her career. The PSAC Western Division Player of the Year racked up 17 kills and 25 digs. Glancy and
Emily Carver (Stow, Ohio/Theodore Roosevelt) added 13 and 10 kills, respectively.
Megan Wendel (Aurora, Ohio/Kenston) produced her 10th double-double with 48 assists and 13 digs. Others with double-digits digs included Walters (14), Graham (13) and Maggie Derosiers (Uniontown, Ohio/Hoover) (13).
Gannon, ranked third in the NCAA Division II Atlantic regional rankings, improved to 27-5 with its 11th consecutive victory against a PSAC team. Shippensburg, tabbed sixth in the regional rankings, dropped to 27-11 overall with its second loss against the Lady Knights this season.
Head coach
Matt Darling's club hosts Lock Haven Saturday, November 17 in the PSAC Championship Match. Game time at the Hammermill Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Lady Knights posted a 3-1 victory during the regular season at Lock Haven on September 21.
