West Chester Prepares for PSAC Semifinals vs Gannon

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PSAC Championship Central

WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The No. 6 seeded West Chester University Golden Rams (24-7) will travel to the No. 2 seeded Gannon University Golden Knights (27-5) for a PSAC semifinal matchup on Friday November 17^th with that match scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm at the Hammermill Center in Erie Pa.

In the PSAC quarterfinals on Tuesday night the 1,3,5, and 7 seeds all lost to their opponents, thus, giving Gannon home court advantage for the remainder of the championships. West Chester ousted the No. 3 seed in Seton Hill winning by a 3-1 margin while Gannon defeated No. 7 Clarion by a 3-1 margin to set up this semifinal matchup.

West Chester won the first set 25-20 and this five point victory marked the biggest lead of the set in what was a back and forth first set. In the second set West Chester used an 11-0 run to take a 22-12 lead which proved to be enough to allow West Chester to earn a 25-15 second set win and take a decisive 2-0 lead in the match. Seton Hill stormed back and took the third set and they jumped out to an early fourth set lead but West Chester answered right back going on to win the fourth 25-23. This was West Chester's second victory of the season over Seton Hill and they have only dropped one set over the course of the two victories.

Abbie Dischert (Wilmington, De./Concord) and Karleigh Lutz (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) tied for the team lead with 14 kills piece while Victoria Cruciani (Phoenixville, Pa./Pope John Paul II) registered nine kills and six blocks in the victory. Jillian Grammer (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) had a huge night as she led the team in assists with 49 assists on the match while teammate Nicki Yates (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) had a good night of her own tallying 26 digs in the victory.
Gannon and West Chester met once already this season in early November in the Sturzebecker Health Science Center and Gannon went on to win by a 3-1 margin. Gannon and West Chester traded the first two sets to send the match to the third set tied at one set a piece. West Chester stormed back in the third set and tied the set at 24-all but Gannon took the next two points to jump out to a 2-1 lead in the match. The fourth set proved to be the final set of the match as Gannon took a 25-18 victory en route to the 3-1 match victory. Lutz led the way in kills in this match with 11 while Grammer tallied 36 assists. Yates contributed in her usual way as she recorded 24 digs but it was not enough to hold off the Golden Knights on that night.

Gannon defeated Clarion by a 3-1 margin dropping only the third set en route to the victory. Kelsey Ansec had a huge day in the victory as she tallied 19 kills on the night while Ashley Beyers chipped in team highs in assists and digs with 42 and 16.

Pitt-Johnstown and Edinboro will square off in the first semifinal with that match scheduled to begin at 5 pm and the winner of that match will await the winner of the Gannon/West Chester match. The PSAC championships will be on Saturday November 18^th beginning at 7 pm.