The Gannon University women’s volleyball team had a strong performance over the weekend in the first home tournament of the season, going 3-0.
Not only did the Knights go undefeated in the tournament, but they went undefeated in every set as they swept every team they played.
The clean sweep left Gannon with an overall record of 7-4 as they prepare for Friday’s 7 p.m. Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opener against Lock Haven at the Hammermill Center.
In the first match of the Gannon-Edinboro Tournament Friday, Gannon hosted The College of Saint Rose and came away with its most dominant win of the weekend, outscoring the “other” Knights, 75-35.
Gannon took control early in the first set, jumping out to a 9-4 lead with help from Maggie Greenfield’s back-to-back kills. Gannon was able to win convincingly, 25-14.
Gannon had an even more dominant second set, jumping out to a 15-5 lead. The Knights went on to win, 25-9, and finished the sweep, 25-12.
Gannon collected eight aces and held Saint Rose to none. Gannon also was able to record 41 kills compared with Saint Rose’s 20.
Toni Leitshuh led Gannon with 12 kills, and Ashley Beyers registered 33 assists.
Later that night, Gannon faced a tough Walsh team but came away with its second sweep.
In the first set, Gannon used a strong start to open up a 6-1 lead after back-to-back kills from Ashley Kerestes. The Knights went on to close out the first frame, 25-18.
Walsh fought back in the second set, opening an early 10-7 advantage to force a Gannon timeout. The Knights battled back to lock the contest, 16-16, and then closed the frame with a 9-5 run to earn the 25-21 win.
The two teams found themselves deadlocked at 12-12 in the third set before Gannon created a 15-13 advantage. Walsh fought back to take a late 24-22 advantage after a 4-0 run.
The Knights responded with a 6-2 run of their own, which was highlighted by a match-winning service ace from Katie Becht to seal the 28-26 win and a 3-0 sweep.
“Walsh has been the team giving us trouble earlier in the season, but we had a good week of practice and we saw the results of that,” Gannon coach Matt Darling said. “We had good attacking and serving was excellent tonight.”
Leitshuh notched a game-high 12 kills and Beyers had 33 assists.
Gannon’s last game of the weekend was against Malone, and the results were more of the same – another sweep, this time 25-22, 25-21, 25-20.
Ashley McClung led the way with 10 kills and Beyers contributed 31 assists.

NICHOLAS POUCH
[email protected]