SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - After opening with a 25-13 win in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Semifinals, the West No. 4 seed Gannon women's volleyball team dropped the next three in falling to the East No. 2 seed Pitt-Johnstown Lady Cats, 3-1, at Heiges Field House on the campus of Shippensburg University on Friday evening. The loss to Pitt-Johnstown ended the Lady Knights' chance of repeating as PSAC champions by set scores of 25-13, 25-27, 23-25 and 23-25. The Lady Knights dropped to 20-13 overall, while the Lady Cats improved to 25-10.
Following the loss, the Lady Knights will now wait for the NCAA Selection Show held on Monday, Nov. 25, to hear if they will receive a bid to the NCAA Atlantic Regional held on Dec. 5-7 with the host to be announced. Entering the PSAC Tournament, the Lady Knights jumped up to sixth place in the NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings released on Nov. 20, after being ranked ninth in the previous regional rankings the week before.
Freshman Hannah Kren (Waukesha, Wisc. / Wisconsin Lutheran) earned her 17th double-double of the season, collecting a team match-high 17 kills and 16 digs. Freshman Jordyn Thiery (Cincinnati, Ohio / McAuley) and junior Emily Carver (Stow, Ohio / Theodore Roosevelt) recorded nine kills each. Thiery also added a team-high 18 digs to her totals. Sophomore Lynne Hibbard (West Barnstable, Mass. / Barnstable) and junior Megan Wendel (Aurora, Ohio / Kenston) each collected seven kills. In addition, Wendel registered 12 digs for her 14th double-double of the season with a team-best .636 hitting percentage.
The Lady Knights finished the match with a higher hitting percentage (.185) and more kills (56) compared to the Lady Cats' totals of .168 and 45, respectively. The difference in the match came in the 28 attack errors by Gannon and the 10.0-5.0 advantage in blocks held by the Lady Cats.
In the opening set, the Lady Knights dominated the Lady Cats, who struggled offensively. The Lady Cats registered a -.031 hitting percentage, while the Lady Knights secured a .312 attack percentage to open the match. Kren opened the Lady Knights' scoring with a kill followed by three straight UPJ errors including a block assist by Carver and junior Kayla Knickerbocker (Richland, Mich / Gull Lake) for a 4-0 lead. The Lady Knights extended their lead to 9-3 in the set off back-to-back kills by Thiery forcing a UPJ timeout. A 6-0 run with four of the points off Lady Cats' errors extended the Lady Knights' lead to 17-8. Consecutive kills by Hibbard and a Thiery service-ace handed the Lady Knights a 25-13 lead and a 1-0 command of the match.
The tables were flipped in the second set, as the Lady Cats recorded a .194 hitting percentage to Gannon's .051. Early on, the Lady Knights held a 7-4 lead until three straight errors tied the set at 7-7. Fighting for the lead, Pitt-Johnstown took control with the score tied at 10-10. A 4-0 run put the Lady Cats in the lead, which forced the Lady Knights to play catch up for most of the set. The Lady Knights finally tied the set at 19-19 off a 4-0 run including three straight points by Kren. Taking a two-point lead, 21-19, with a chance to go ahead 2-0 in the match, the Lady Knights were unable to hold on as the Lady Cats took a 23-21 lead. The Lady Knights could've sealed the win with the game-point within reach but a UPJ kept the set alive. Back-to-back kills gave the Lady Cats a 27-25 win, tying the match at 1-1.
Trailing throughout most of the third set, the Lady Knights erased a six-point UPJ lead off a 9-3 run to tie the set at 20-20. The Lady Knights took their first lead of the set on a kill by Knickerbocker with the Lady Cats striking right back. A 3-0 run gave the Lady Cats a 23-21 lead. Despite the Lady Knights pulling within one of the Lady Cats' lead twice in the final points of the set, a Gannon service error put Pitt-Johnstown up 2-1 in the match with a 25-23 win in the third set.
With the score tied at 6-6 in the fourth set, the Lady Cats looked like they were running away with the win off a 4-1 run. The Lady Knights strung together their own run to pull within one, 11-10. A quick kill gave the Lady Cats a 12-10, the last time either team would be separated by more than one-point. In the next 17 points awarded, the two squads found themselves tied eight times. With the set tied at 19-19, UPJ took a 21-19 lead not before Gannon answered back with two points of their own to tie it back up at 22-22. An exchange of a point for each team put the score at 23-23. Pitt-Johnstown went onto seal a 25-23 win following back-to-back Gannon errors, earning the Lady Cats a trip to the title match
Gannon will now wait to hear if the team receives a bid in the NCAA Atlantic Regional held on Dec. 5-7. The official announcement will come from the NCAA Selection Show hosted live on NCAA.com on Monday, Nov. 25, at 7:30 p.m.
