ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst volleyball team lost 0-3 to cross town rival Gannon on Tuesday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action. The Lakers fell in set one (25-19), set two (25-18), and set three (25-10).
 
Mercyhurst was led offensively by Shelby Chesko who posted 12 kills. Alyssa Kling notched eight kills, and an ace. Katie Baird contributed five kills and eight digs. Makayla Mollé and Abby Rose led assists with 14 and 13 respectively. Rose contributed two aces, Kling and Molle recorded one each. Hannah Vuylsteke led digs with 11. Larissa Cass and Leah Kern each contributed a block assist.
 
Gannon (24-5, 13-3 PSAC) was led by Kelsey Ansec who had 12 kills and a block assist. Ally Smith contributed 10 kills, a pair of aces, and seven digs. Rebekah Smith added seven kills and a block assist for the Golden Knights.
 
Mercyhurst (10-17, 5-11 PSAC) was unable to hold of Gannon from claiming a 25-19 victory. Laura Bebinger earned the Golden Knights their first lead of the game, going on a four point run to lead 4-0. Mercyhurst would claim their only lead of the set when Rose would serve up an ace to push the Lakers up to a 7-6 lead and would extend their lead to as high as 8-6. Gannon would come back to take the lead which they would stretch to as much as six points, on three occasions.
 
Gannon broke an early 1-1 scoring deadlock to claim the lead that they would hold onto for the remainder of the set. Mercyhurst would shrink the Golden Knights lead to as little as two when they would trail 8-10. Gannon would keep their lead for the rest of the set coming to win 18-25.
 
Mercyhurst would never hold the lead in the third set, but knotted the scoring twice tying the action at 1-1 and again 2-2. The Lakers would then lose the lead on a four point serving streak from Ashley Beyers. Gannon would then move on to score 23 of the next 31 to close the set and win the game.
 
Mercyhurst will play again next when they host Edinboro at 7 pm on Friday in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.