WHEELING, W.Va. – Gannon outlasted Fairmont State in a thrilling five-set match (21-25, 27-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10) to advance to the 2016 Atlantic Region Semifinals on Friday afternoon at the McDonough Center in Wheeling.
 
Fairmont State (21-14) got a stellar performance from Mackenzie Harrison with 26 kills, 11 digs and two block assists in the match. Senior Breanna Blot also wrapped up her career this afternoon by turning in 14 kills and six total blocks. Fellow senior Kayla Smith finished just shy of a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs.
 
Megan Clerico (27) and Julia Shemaitis (17) joined Harrison with double-figure digs. Jessica Furda passed out a game-high 54 assists.
 
In the opening set, the Falcons finished strong after being behind by an 18-14 margin, to pick up the 25-21 win in the set. The Falcons then had a set points in the second frame, after trailing by margins of 8-1 and 15-8, but eventual fell by a score of 27-25.
 
The Falcons took a 2-1 match lead in set three after edging Gannon 25-23 in the third set. Rebecca Feeney drilled home the set point in the third for FSU in a back-and-forth set that had eight ties and four lead changes.
 
The fourth set was the closest of the day as the lead changed seven times and the match was tied nine times. Gannon led by four, 19-15, late in the set before FSU once again rallied to cut the Knight lead back to one (24-23), but Gannon survived with a kill by Hannah Kren.
 
Gannon then scored the first three points of the fifth set and never trailed again, winning by a score of 15-10 to advance in the tournament.
 
Gannon (31-3) got 13 kills from Kren, 12 from Lexi Johnson and 10 from Beka Smith in the victory. Kren also chipped in 11 digs to record a double-double.
 
The 2017 Falcons will return five starters from this season's NCAA Tournament team, including first team All-Region right-side hitter Mackenzie Harrison, setter Jessica Furda and outside hitter Julia Shemaitis. Sophomore all-conference libero Megan Clerico and the league's top blocker Rebecca Feeney will also return for the Falcons.