ERIE Pa. - The Gannon Lady Knights defeated the West Chester Golden Rams on Tuesday (Nov. 15) night in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament Quarterfinal round. The Lady Knights swept the Golden Rams, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18.

Top-seed Gannon advances to the PSAC semifinal round on Friday (Nov. 18) against the No.4-seed California (Pa.) Vulcans. In the other PSAC semifinals match, No.3-seed Pitt-Johnstown will take on No.7-seed Indiana (Pa.). Both matches will be hosted by Gannon.  Pitt-Johnstown and Indiana (Pa.) will begin at 5 p.m. while Gannon and California (Pa.) will get started at 7:30 p.m.

The Lady Knights advanced to the semifinals by edging West Chester in each of the three sets played Tuesday.

Set one was neck and neck all the way to the end. Tied at 22, junior Beka Smith (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) delivered a key kill to put the Lady Knights up one. Lauren Beck (Chardon, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) then crushed another Lady Knight kill to go ahead 24-22. West Chester rallied for a point but Beck put the exclamation point on the set with a line shot that fell in the Golden Ram defense.

Set two saw the same action. Gannon led 23-18 when West Chester went on a mini 4-1 run. The Golden Rams pulled to within two at 24-22. Kelsey Ansec (Solon, Ohio /Solon) answered for the Lady Knights with a set ending kill, winning, 25-22.

Gannon led 21-17 in set three when it saw a mini 4-1 run of its own. Set three, and the match, ended on a West Chester attack error. Gannon took the third set, 25-18.

Ansec had a team-high 12 kills to go along with three blocks and a .304 hitting percentage.

Carolyn Knollman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Saint Ursula Academy) added 35 assists and Jordyn Thiery (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) chipped in 12 digs.

Gannon improves to 28-3 overall. The 28 wins are tied for the fourth-most in Gannon history.

West Chester ends its season at 22-11 overall.

A full webcast replay of the PSAC quarterfinal match can be seen HERE.