Erie, Pa. – The Mercyhurst women's volleyball team struggled to find consistency against the No. 19-ranked California (Pa.) Vulcans Tuesday at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Playing without Erin English, the defending PSAC West Player of the Week, the Lakers hit just .009 in losing to California 25-16, 25-17, 25-21.

 

English hit .535 in five matches during the past week but flu-like symptoms kept her out of Tuesday night's match. Without her in the lineup, California had 8.0 team blocks and held the Lakers to just 25 kills with 24 attack errors.

 

Mercyhurst struggled with its service game in the opening set, giving up five points on service errors. But the Lakers settled down after that and committed only two service errors the rest of the way.

 

Defensively, the Lakers dug well as they combined for 42 digs, led by Kendall Ashworth's 15. But the team had no answer for California's Ludmila Amaral at the net and she finished with 11 kills against just two errors. Mercyhurst's Lauren Kubinski tied Amaral for match-high honors in kills and added three blocks.

 

California jumped out on top early in each of the first two sets and Mercyhurst never really recovered. However, in the third set, the Lakers took an 8-4 lead following a Julia Butler kill, forcing the Vulcans to use a timeout. California came back with eight of the next nine points and the Lakers never got closer than two the rest of the way.

 

California improved to 10-0 with the win and is now 2-0 in the PSAC West Division. Mercyhurst falls to 6-4 and has its five match winning streak snapped. The Lakers, 1-1 in the PSAC West, will have a week off before playing at rival Gannon Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.