Houghton Boxscore
Carlow Boxscore

ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst College volleyball team (3-1) split a pair of matches on the final day of the 2009 Laker Invitational.

The Lakers fell in the first match, dropping a thrill 3-2 contest against Houghton, (25-20, 25-20, 8-25, 15-25, 15-10), before rebounding in straight sets against Carlow (25-12, 25-23, 27-25).

Chelsea Jensen paced the Lakers against Houghton, recording 15 kills, 15 digs, eight aces and five block assists.  Gretta Freyermuth added nine kills while Amanda Balasko, Justine Smith and Erin English each threw down eight kills.  Setter Julia Butler contributed 45 assists and helped out defensively with 10 digs.

Smith paced the defense with six blocks (1 solo, 5 assisted) while English and Becky Leusch added four block assists.

Becky Smith led the offense against Carlow as she was the only Laker to record a double-digit kills effort with 10 while Kelsey Richardson added five as Mercyhurst presented a balanced offensive attack wtih 11 different Lakers collecting at least one kill.

Chelsea Hennigan and Kiera Rebert added double-digits assists with 15 and 13, respectively.  Kendall Ashworth recorded 22 digs as J. Smith continued her strong defensive presense at the net, collecting four blocks.

The Lakers return to action this weekend, Sept. 4-5 when they co-host the Mercyhurst / Gannon Invitational.

Day 2 Results
Houghton 3, OVU 0 (18-18-15)
Carlow 3, Holy Family 2 (22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 15-8)
Houghton 3, Mercyhurst 2 (25-20, 25-20, 8-25, 15-25, 15-10)
Holy Family 3, OVU 0 (23, 9, 26-24)
Mercyhurst 3, Carlow 0 (12, 23, 27-25)