Live Video I
Live Stats
CALIFORNIA (Nov. 15) – The California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team travels to Erie, Pennsylvania, to face top-seeded Gannon in the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at the Hammermill Center, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Live Coverage: The Gannon athletic media relations office will provide live video and live stats for the quarterfinal match. Live updates will also be available throughout the match on the official Twitter feed of Cal U athletics (
@calvulcans).
PSAC Playoffs: The Vulcans are the No. 4 seed out of the Western Division in the PSAC Tournament and will travel to face the No. 1 seed Gannon. Edinboro is the No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 seed Clarion on Tuesday night. In the Eastern Division, defending-league champion East Stroudsburg is the No. 1 seed and will host the No. 4 seed Bloosmburg, while No. 2 seed Shepherd will host No. 3 seed West Chester in the quarterfinals.
Records: The Vulcans enter the PSAC Tournament with a 14-11 overall record behind a 9-7 mark in conference action. Cal U ended the regular season by winning five of its final six matches to clinch a berth to the post-season. Meanwhile, the Lady Knights come into the contest with the most overall wins in the PSAC behind a 26-5 record and won a share of the PSAC West regular-season title with a 13-3 mark in divisional action. Gannon ended the regular season with five-consecutive wins, all of them ending in sweeps.
Scouting the Vulcans: Senior
Sarah Moehring paces the team with 241 kills this season, while ranking 12th in the conference with 2.92 kills per set. Moehring also ranks ninth in the PSAC with 3.46 points per set. The senior duo of
Marley Goff and
Sarah Benson have directed the Vulcan offense this season. Goff leads the team with 411 assists and ranks among the top-15 in the conference with 5.16 assists per set, whiile Benson has tallied 328 assists. Junior
Kelly Lynch leads the team with 350 digs and is averaging 4.17 digs per set, while classmate
Chelsea Howard has controlled the net this season by recording 83.0 blocks, which is among the league leaders.
Vulcans in the Playoffs: Cal U has earned a berth to the PSAC Tournament for the 14th time in the last 16 playing seasons. During this span, the Vulcans have won six conference championships and advanced to the finals on eight occasions. Overall, Cal U has won eight conference titles in program history.
Scouting the Lady Knights: Gannon leads the PSAC in hitting percentage (.242) and ranks second in the league with 13.33 kills per set, plus sits seventh nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.106). Redshirt senior Ashley Beyers ranks second in the PSAC with 10.62 assists per set and is among the top 25 in NCAA Division II with 1,030 total assists. Senor Lauren Sampson sits second in the conference with 3.75 kills per set and has totaled 300 kills on the season. She also ranks third in the league and 19th nationally with 0.53 service aces per set. The Lady Knights boast three players in the top-10 with hitting percentages over .290 and redshirt senior Ashley Kerestes ranks third in the PSAC with a .305 clip.
Series: Since Gannon joined the PSAC in 2008, the Vulcans lead the series with Lady Knights by a 16-12 margin. Gannon has won the last seven meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2016 campaign. This marks the fifth meeting between the programs in the PSAC Tournament with Gannon capturing the last victory in the 2018 semifinals.
Last Meeting: The Vulcans suffered a 3-0 loss at Gannon to end the regular season on Saturday. Moehring led the team with her eighth kill/dig double-double, as she posted 12 kills on a .324 hitting percentage and a team-high 13 digs. Goff led the offense with 14 assists, while Lynch tallied nine digs. Sophomore
Alayja Floyd controlled the net with five blocks, while senior
Kiandria Cowart and Howard each recorded three blocks.
Head Coaches: Peter Letourneau is in his 11th season with the Vulcans and boasts a 221-112 record with the program. He became the all-time winningest coach in program history in 2017 and has made an appearance in the PSAC Tournament eight times during his tenure.
Matt Darling is in his 15th season at Gannon and is the longest tenured and winningest head coach in program history. He has posted a 320-129 record as head coach of the Lady Knights and led Gannon to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history in 2019.
Up Next: The winner will advance to the semifinals of the PSAC Tournament and face the winner of Shepherd-West Chester on Friday, Nov. 11.
