ERIE, Pa. – Kutztown women's volleyball had its season-best three match win streak come to an end at the hands of the defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion, Gannon, on the road Friday night, falling in straight sets by scores of the match were 15-25, 10-25 and 14-25.
The defeat snaps a three-match win streak for the Golden Bears (5-4 overall). The Golden Knights (7-2) won for the sixth straight time. Gannon finished with a .256 hit percentage, compared to just .011 for Kutztown.
Gabriela Fialova (Ledec nad Sazavou, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium Ludvika Danka) recorded 10 kills and 12 digs.
Sadie Doss (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) tallied seven kills and four digs.
Mallory Hoch (Zionsville, Pa./Southern Lehigh) notched 12 digs and
Cat Farole (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) contributed 11 assists and four digs.
Sarah Hess (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) had two kills and four digs, while
Anna Parmer (Firestone, Colo./Mead) had six assists, three digs and one kill.
In the opening set, Kutztown found itself behind the eight ball for much of the set as Gannon blitzed the Golden Bears and jumped out to a 22-9 lead in almost the blink of an eye. The Maroon and Gold, however, did not fold and at least gave themselves some positive momentum moving forward by scoring six straight points, highlighted by a service ace and kill by Fialova.
Just as they did in the first set, the Golden Knights started out fast and went on a 15-5 run to begin set two. They continued to keep their foot on the gas and did not allow the Maroon and Gold to try to start any rally in this one, scoring 10 of the last 15 points.
It was more of the same in the third set as Gannon pushed all of the right buttons and remained stout both offensively and defensively in shutting down the Golden Bears.
Kutztown will remain in Erie for its next match tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 16, when it takes on Mercyhurst for a 10 a.m., start. KU will then travel to play Edinboro and play a match at 3 p.m. Both matches are non-conference.
