Gannon Women's Volleyball Team Headed Back to the Big Dance for Second Consecutive Season

ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon volleyball team is headed back to the Big Dance for the second consecutive season. The Lady Knights (20-9) will enter next weekend’s NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional as the fifth seed and will face fourth-seeded Wheeling Jesuit (32-4) in the opening round. The NCAA Division II Tournament bracket was announced Sunday night via a live Webcast.

Edinboro University will serve as the host school despite entering the Atlantic Regional as the second seed. The Fighting Scots (29-5) will face No. 7 Lock Haven (20-10) in the opening round. The other first-round match-ups include No. 1 Clarion (29-4) versus No. 8 Chowan (22-12) and No. 3 California (Pa.) (21-12) against No. 6 Indiana (Pa.) (21-10).

Gannon enters the NCAA Tournament with a 20-9 record. The Lady Knights finished fourth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division, before being eliminated by Clarion in the conference quarterfinals. The squad has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1995, which is also the last time the program has qualified for consecutive national tournaments.

Head coach Matt Darling’s squad has proven it can beat the region’s best. The Lady Knights own victories against Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana (Pa.) and Lock Haven.

Friday’s NCAA Division II Tournament opening-round contest between Gannon and Wheeling Jesuit can be heard live on 90.5 WERG and via the Internet at http://www.wergfm.com.

Please continue to check http://www.gannonsports.com throughout the week for more information regarding the NCAA Division II Volleyball Atlantic Regional, including match times and possible links for live gameday statistics.