WHEELING, W.Va. — The Shippensburg University volleyball team dropped a four-set match to Gannon Thursday in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Atlantic Region Volleyball Championships from the McDonough Center on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University.
 
Set scores were 21-25, 25-19, 21-25 and 16-25.
 
Shippensburg (21-12) and Gannon (29-6) renewed acquaintances Thursday for the first time since the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opener on September 22, a match that the Raiders won in five sets.
 
Junior Morgan DeFloria led the Raiders with 19 kills, swinging a sturdy .161 despite 56 swings on the day. DeFloria also contributed a team-high 18 digs, finishing with her 17th double-double of the season.
 
Freshman setter Emily Hangen had 31 assists and 13 digs, while sophomore Samantha Webber had nine kills, five blocks and hit .154.
 
Three other Raiders produced double-digit digs in the match: redshirt-junior Courtney Malott (13), sophomore libero Megan Forstburg (16) and sophomore Gabriella Johnson (17).
 
The two teams played to a 15-15 score in the first set before a 5-0 run by the Golden Knights swung the tide in the opening frame; SU got as close as 23-21. In the second set, SU raced out to a 10-3 lead and did not trail by less than four points for the remainder of the frame.
 
The third set was nip and tuck until the final points, with neither team leading by three or more points until late. Gannon called timeout with a 20-19 lead, and came out of the break scoring four consecutive points to take control.
 
In the fourth and final set, Gannon used a 7-1 run to lead 13-8. After three SU points made it 13-11, the Golden Knights then reeled off another 7-1 run to take control.
 
The match marked the second time in three years that the two teams met in the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Knights also defeated the Raiders in four sets back in 2015.

Shippensburg made its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and its fifth in the last six years under head coach Leanne Piscotty.