ERIE, Pa. – Gannon will take on Wheeling in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional championship. The winner will secure a spot in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight taking place in Sioux Falls, S.D., from December 12-14. The two teams followed different paths to this final showdown. Gannon, entering as the top seed, faced […]
ERIE, Pa. – Gannon will take on Wheeling in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional championship. The winner will secure a spot in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight taking place in Sioux Falls, S.D., from December 12-14.
The two teams followed different paths to this final showdown. Gannon, entering as the top seed, faced challenges in their match against No. 8 Shaw on Thursday. However, the Golden Knights made a statement by defeating No. 5 seed West Virginia State (24-10), champions of the Mountain East Conference, in straight sets on Friday night at the Hagerty Family Events Center. Gannon won with scores of 25-19, 25-18, 25-20, effectively ending the Yellow Jackets’ 14-match winning streak. This victory improved Gannon’s record to 25-7.
Wheeling, the third seed, bounced back from near elimination, overcoming No. 2 Indiana (Pa.) in a five-game thriller, winning by scores of 21-25, 22-25, 28-26, 25-23, 15-9.
On Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at the Hagerty Family Events Center, these two long-standing rivals will clash for the Atlantic Regional crown. This marks the fifth meeting between Gannon and Wheeling in the Atlantic Regional championship since 2015.
The last encounter in the regional final took place in 2021, where Gannon clinched the title with a 3-0 victory on Wheeling’s home ground. Gannon also secured a 3-0 triumph in both 2019 and 2017, while Wheeling won in 2015 with a similar score.
HOW IT UNFOLDED
Game 1 – Nerves may have played a role as the opening three serves resulted in service aces. There were four early ties and a lead change before Gannon took control. The Yellow Jackets held a 4-3 advantage when Gannon surged ahead with five consecutive points to assume an 8-4 lead. West Virginia State committed four attack errors, and Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) concluded the run with a kill. Gannon steadily extended its lead as the Yellow Jackets struggled to put together more than two points at a time for the rest of the set. A kill from Blevins and a block by Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) alongside Ali Sorenson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) gave Gannon a 21-14 lead. Gannon secured game one when Koch’s kill made it 25-19.
Game 2 – Gannon quickly jumped to an 8-0 lead, bolstered by a pair of kills from Koch. West Virginia State responded by scoring the next four points, narrowing the gap to 13-11. The score remained tight at 19-16 before Gannon launched a four-point run to extend the lead to 23-16. Carisa Treser and Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) each contributed kills, with Blevins closing it out with a block. The teams exchanged points until a Blevins kill sealed a 25-18 win for Gannon, giving them a 2-0 lead.
Game 3 – Diverging from the previous games, Gannon found itself trailing for the majority of the third game. This set showcased the Gannon front row with multiple blocks. With seven ties and three lead changes, Gannon was down 19-16 when they staged a comeback. A service error from the Yellow Jackets, one of nine committed, initiated a scoring streak that led Gannon to match point. Blevins and Sorenson combined for a block, and back-to-back kills from Sorenson gave Gannon a 20-19 lead—its first since 12-11. They followed with another block, and Sorenson tallied her seventh kill of the night to make it 23-19. Moments later, Gannon clinched the set when Koch’s kill marked a 25-20 win.
BY THE NUMBERS
Gannon recorded a hitting percentage of .194 (36 kills in 108 attempts) while limiting the Yellow Jackets to just .049. The Golden Knights excelled at the net, achieving one solo block and 24 block assists. Ali Sorenson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way East) led the charge with nine block assists. Journey Blevins (Richwood, Ohio/North Union) contributed one solo block and five block assists, while Hailey Koch (Littleton, Col./Dakota Ridge) notched five block assists.
Blevins and Koch spearheaded the offense. Blevins, a three-time All-American, topped all players with 13 kills, boasting a hitting percentage of .387. Koch added 11 kills. Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian) provided 29 assists.
On defense, Emma Hall (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) led with 14 digs. Carissa Treser (Sewickley, Pa./North Allegheny) added seven digs.
