The Gannon University women’s volleyball team swept East Stroudsburg in the PSAC quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Hammermill Center, 25-22, 25-17, 25-15.
The Knights toppled East Stroudsburg in kills 44-29 and also sported an impressive hitting percentage of .213.
Lexi Johnson recorded the Knights greatest hitting percentage, .500. The Knights leader in points was Ashley McClung with 13.5.
The Knights will play California University of Pennsylvania at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Hammermill Center.
The Knights entered the PSAC tournament coming off a weekend sweep of Slippery Rock and Edinboro on the road that helped them finish the conference schedule with a 16-1 record.
In Saturday´s game Gannon came out of the gates firing with a quick 7-0 lead in the first set before expanding its lead to 10-1. The Knights collected kills from Ally Smith, Ashley Kerestes and McClung in the opening flurry.
Edinboro eventually overcame its slow start and took an 18-17 lead in the first set. Trailing 21-19, Gannon coach Matt Darling used a timeout. His team responded by scoring the next three points, courtesy of two Edinboro attack errors and a service ace from Valeria Torres, to give Gannon a 22-21 lead. The Knights posted the final three points for an extended 26-24 victory.
Gannon eventually took a 17-14 lead that prompted an Edinboro timeout. The Fighting Scots once again rallied late in the set, cutting the Gannon lead to 22-21, but the Knights responded for a 25-22 set-two victory.
Gannon charged ahead 5-2 in the match-clinching third set. After trading points midway through the set, the Knights surged ahead with a 9-1 run for a 23-14 lead. Aubree Lanman capped the match with a kill for the 25-18 victory.
Slippery Rock opened up a 5-2 lead in the first set. Neither team could gain much traction, going back and forth, as a kill from McClung tied the score at 13. The Rock held steady and maintained the lead for the rest of the set and emerged with a 25-23 victory.
The Knights took an early 5-2 lead in the second set with McClung totaling three kills in the opening moments. Torres smacked a service ace to put Gannon up 15-11, and Kenzie Lasher followed suit with an ace to give Gannon an 18-13 lead.
Ashley Beyers, who leads the conference in aces/set, put down another ace for the Knights for a 20-14 lead. The Knights scored four of the final five points in the second set for a 25-20 victory that tied the match at one.
Toni Leitshuh’s service ace helped send Gannon to a 6-3 lead to begin the third set. Johnson eventually capped an 8-1 flurry with a kill to put Gannon ahead, 17-7. Gannon took a 2-1 match lead with its 25-16 victory.
A kill from Smith put Gannon up 5-3 in the match-clinching fourth set. Sampson pushed the Knights’ lead to 15-12 with a kill and Leitshuh expanded the lead to 18-13 with an ace. Gannon used a 4-1 run to close the fourth set for a 25-16 victory.

CRIS DIEGO
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