The Gannon University women’s volleyball team captured its fourth straight victory Tuesday night, beating host D’Youville, 3-0, in a nonconference match at the Hammermill Center.

The victory boosted the Knights’ overall record to 13-2 on the season, with 12 of those victories coming by sweep.

Gannon improved to 2-0 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action over the weekend by sweeping visiting Seton Hill, 3-0, Saturday, four days after opening PSAC play with a 3-0 victory over Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

On Saturday, the Knights had little trouble with the visiting Griffins, winning by scores of 25-14, 25-11 and 25-17.

Saturday’s first set against Seton Hill went back and forth early as the Knights held a slight 6-5 edge. They then put up five unanswered points to take a commanding 11-5 first-set lead. The Knights only added to their lead as the set went on and rolled to a 25-14 first set victory.

Gannon had 15 kills in the first set and benefited from seven Seton Hill errors.

Winning that set made it seven in a row for the Knights since the Francis Marion game.

Gannon’s momentum didn’t carry over well to the next set as it fell behind the Griffins early 6-3. However, the Knights exploded to outscore the Griffins 19-2 to go up big, 22-8.

Not much drama ensued as the Knights would take an impressive 2-0 lead with a 25-11 second-set win.

While Gannon had only nine kills in the second set, it took advantage of 11 Seton Hill errors.

The third set was the best of the afternoon as it was neck and neck early.

No team went up by more than a few points until the Knights got rolling after holding a slim 12-11 lead. They claimed five points in a row, which was the start of a 9-1 tear that pushed their advantage to 21-12.

Gannon held off a late Griffins rally attempt to win the third and final set 25-17.

Coach Matt Darling said that the consistency the Knights have shown will bode well for them come tournament time.

“We often talk about the importance of playing each match, even each point, one at a time,” Darling said. “We believe that this approach will help us win consistently in PSAC play, and it’s the same approach we’ll take when we’re playing in the postseason.”

Darling said that everything the team does is part of a learning process.

“Right now, we’re seeing a bunch of sweeps, but we’re really not thinking about it that way,” Darling said. “Instead, we’re trying to get better in certain areas.”

The Knights had 11 kills in the final set.

The Knights once again feasted off a double-digit number of Griffin errors – 10 – in securing the victory.

For the entire match, the Knights was led by freshman Sam Deinek with nine kills and zero errors. Senior Lauren Sampson contributed as well with eight kills. Freshman Emma Hall added 17 digs for the Knights in the victory.

Gannon will welcome the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown to the Hammermill Center at 7 p.m. Friday, Clarion at 2 p.m. Saturday and Edinboro at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

TIMOTHY CORSO

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