CALIFORNIA (Nov. 7) – The Vulcans clinched a berth in next week's Pennsylvania State Athletic Tournament (PSAC) Tournament on Friday night with a 3-2 win (22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-16, 15-11) against Gannon in divisional play at the Convocation Center.

With the victory, the California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team improves to 24-8 overall with a 16-5 mark in conference action. Meanwhile, the Lady Knights fall to 24-4 this season behind a 17-4 record in league play. The Vulcans enter the final day of the regular season one match behind Gannon and Seton Hill for second place in the PSAC West standings.

Junior Miranda Fouzie (Kingston, Ontario/Sydenham) tied her career high, which she set last Saturday, with 15 kills on a .316 hitting percentage and classmate Mary Lavery (La Plata, Md./La Plata) added 14 kills while hitting at a .296 clip. Redshirt freshman Rachel Snyder (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) established a season high with 13 kills on a .344 hitting percentage and senior Laurel Miller (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) added 10 kills in the victory. Sophomores Megan Litoborki (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) and Kristen Scurpa (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) directed the offense on Friday with 33 and 24 assists, respectively, and each finished with assist/dig double-doubles.

Senior Samantha Rudy (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) tallied 34 digs and paced five players in double-digit digs. Miller and freshman Ashley Leto (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) collected 24 and 21 digs, respectively, against Gannon. Scurpa set a season high with 17 digs and Litoborski recorded 15 digs in the win. Fouzie led the team with four blocks, while Lavery added three blocks on Friday.

Early in the first set, Cal U mounted an 8-4 run to take a 12-9 lead on a kill by Lavery. The teams traded the next four points before the Lady Knights countered by claiming seven of eight points to take an 18-15 lead. The teams later traded eight-straight points before Gannon called a timeout and won three of five points to earn a 25-22 victory.

The Vulcans mounted a 7-2 rally in the opening portion of the second set to take a 13-10 lead on a kill by Lavery. Gannon answered with four-straight points to reclaim the lead at 14-13 before Cal U seized control of the set with an 11-3 run to take a 24-17 lead on an attacking error.  The Lady Knights then won back-to-back points before the Vulcans posted a 25-19 win on a kill by Lavery.

Gannon, which led the entire third set, raced out to an 8-2 lead before Cal U won four of six points to cut the deficit to 10-6. The Lady Knights then posted a 5-3 run to take a 15-9 lead before the teams traded back-to-back points. Cal U countered with a 5-3 rally to trim the deficit to 20-16 and forced Gannon to call a timeout. The Vulcans later won five of seven points before the Lady Knights tallied a 25-22 victory.

With the score tied 5-5 in the fourth set, the Vulcans posted a 10-2 run to take a sizeable 15-7 lead on a block assist by Fouzie and Lavery. Gannon then won six of nine points to trim the deficit to 18-13 before Cal U countered with a 6-2 rally to force set point at 24-15 on a kill by Fouzie. The teams traded kills with the Vulcans earning a 25-16 win on another kill by Fouzie.

Cal U won four of the initial six points in the fifth set before Gannon won three-straight points, highlighted by back-to-back service aces. The Vulcans countered by claiming the next four points to take an 8-5 lead on an attacking error. The teams traded the next three points before Cal U earned four-straight points to take a 13-7 lead on a kill by Miler. Following a timeout, the Lady Knights earned four-consecutive points to trim the deficit to 13-11 and forced the Vulcans to call a timeout. Cal U closed the match with back-to-back kills by Fouzie and Lavery to post a 15-11 victory.

The Vulcans close out the regular season tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 8, when they host Mercyhurst on Senior Day at 3 p.m.