EAST STROUDSBURG – A 3-1 victory by the Gannon Golden Knights halted a seven-game winning streak for the East Stroudsburg University women's volleyball team on Friday night inside Koehler Fieldhouse. Gannon would take the match by scores of 28-26, 18-25, 25-17, 25-16.
 
ESU (12-4, 3-1) dropped its first conference match of the season after battling with the Golden Knights. This was the first meeting between the two since a matchup in the 2018 PSAC Quarterfinals, where Gannon was victorious against the Warriors, 3-0.
 
The Warriors were paced by 13 kills and 21 digs from senior Sarah Smith, while senior Sam Dunphy added 12 kills to go along with four total blocks. Sophomore Jasmine Mooney added 10 kills and five digs for ESU. Freshman Rachel Cain tallied 43 assists in the match to go along with two aces and eight digs.
 
Gannon used a 3-0 run in the opening set to take an 8-5 lead against the Warriors as Ashley Beyers delivered an ace to open the three-point cushion. The Warriors would respond with a kill from Mooney followed by a double-block from junior Jasmine Williams and Dunphy to take a 14-12 lead.
 
The lead continued to change hands in the set as Gannon took a 15-14 advantage before ESU rallied for back-to-back points for a 16-15 lead. The Golden Knights would see the Warriors knot the score 19-19 before tallying four unanswered points to gain a 23-19 edge. The run forced ESU to call both of its timeouts in the set.
 
Consecutive kills from Mooney and Dunphy trimmed the deficit to 23-22 for ESU before Ally Smith recorded a kill out of a timeout for the Golden Knights. ESU gained a 25-24 lead in the set and looked for the early lead in the match but would be unable to close-out Gannon as the Knights rallied from a 26-25 deficit to win 28-26.
 
ESU opened the second set with a 4-0 run and would increase its lead to 6-2 before Gannon rallied to knot the set 6-6. A pair of kills by Smith along with a double-block from redshirt junior Trea-sure Ketter and Dunphy would give the Warriors a 9-6 advantage. ESU stretched its lead to 17-10 in the set and later 20-13 following a kill by Ketter.

Gannon rallied to trim the deficit to 20-17 thanks to a 4-0 run that led to a timeout being taken by ESU. The Warriors ended the run with a kill by Mooney to make it 21-17. ESU closed the set on a 4-0 run as a pair of kills from Smith secured the 25-18 victory for the Warriors.
 
The Warriors would lead by as many as five points in the third set as Cain delivered an ace to make it 14-9 in favor of ESU. A Gannon timeout turned into a 4-0 run for the Golden Knights, who cut the deficit to 14-13. Another 4-0 run would give Gannon a 17-15 advantage as the Golden Knights wouldn't look back. Gannon closed with a 6-0 run to secure the set 25-17 and take a 2-1 lead against the Warriors.
 
Gannon trailed early in the fourth set before using a 6-0 run to turn a 6-5 deficit into an 11-6 lead. ESU trimmed the gap to 16-11 following consecutive kills from Dunphy and sophomore Caylinn Davis. The Golden Knights later increased their lead to 22-14 before scoring three unanswered points to take the set 25-16 and the match 3-1 against the Warriors.
 
The Warriors close out their three-game homestand on Saturday night with a matchup against Mercyhurst beginning at 6:30 p.m. ESU then hits the road for a pair of conference matches against Pitt-Johnstown and IUP next weekend.