ERIE, Pa (Oct. 3) – The California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team continued Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West action by playing a close contest before suffering a 3-2 loss (23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 16-18) at Gannon on Saturday night.

With the loss, the Vulcans drop to 6-10 overall with a 4-2 mark in conference play. Meanwhile, the Lady Knights improve to 12-3 on the year behind a 5-1 record in league play. 

Senior Mary Lavery (La Plata, Md./La Plata) led the team with a season-high 19 kills on a .357 hitting percentage. Sophomore Ashley Leto (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) registered 13 kills and 17 digs and junior Abby Matusik (Mars, Pa./Mars) tallied 10 kills and 27 digs as each posted a kill/dig double-double. Junior Megan Litoborski (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) guided the offense with 48 assists and also registered 17 digs for another assist/dig double-double.

Sophomore Emily Berry (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) tallied 23 digs, while Matusik paced Cal U defensively with 27 digs. Senior Miranda Fouzie (Kingston, Ontario/Sydenham) led the team with six blocks, while Leto and freshman Emily Bucklin (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) both posted four blocks.

After trading the opening two points of the match, Gannon rallied to win eight of the next 10 points to take a 9-3 lead. The Vulcans received three of the next five points due to three errors from the Lady Knights. Cal U won three of the next four points to cut the lead to 11-9. Following a Gannon timeout, Lavery and Matusik each recorded two kills to bring the game to 14-13 in favor of the Lady Knights who then rallied for three-straight points twice to make the score 21-17. The Vulcans made a late run winning five-consecutive points, but fell short losing the first set 25-23.

Cal U won the initial four points of the second set and five of the first six points to take an early 5-1 lead. The Lady Knights fought back, winning four of the next five points to cut the lead to 6-5 before the teams traded points and the Vulcans went on a three-point run to make the score 15-9. Cal U won six points in eight tries to increase the lead to 22-15 before Gannon cut the lead to 22-21. The Vulcans went on to win the second set due to two offensive errors from the Lady Knights.

Both teams exchanged the first points of the third set before Gannon led 7-6. The teams continued to exchange points until Cal U won five-straight points making the score 16-13. After a Lady Knights timeout, the teams again exchanged the next eight points until the Vulcans won five of the last seven points to take the third set at 25-22.

The fourth set started with Gannon winning the first point and Cal U rallying to win six-consecutive points, including four errors from the Lady Knights. After a timeout by Gannon, Cal U again won four-straight points with two kills from Matusik to increase the lead to 10-2. The Lady Knights cut the lead to 13-10 before the Vulcans won eight of the next nine points, holding a 19-13 lead before Gannon came back again decreasing the deficit to 21-17 before winning five-straight points to tie the set at 22-22. The Golden Knights won three of the next five points to win the set 25-23.

The final set began with the teams alternating points to make the score 5-5. The Golden Knights took six of the next seven points to take a 11-6 lead before the teams traded points once again. Cal U rallied to score six-consecutive points off of three kills from Lavery to take a 14-12 lead. The Vulcans took a 16-15 lead before Gannon struck for three-straight points to take the game and the match at 18-16.

Cal U returns to action Tuesday, Oct. 6, when it travels to league-finalist Seton Hill in PSAC West play at 7 p.m.