ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst volleyball team opened its season with a pair of losses on Friday. The Lakers fell to Northwood, 3-0, and Charleston (W. Va.), 3-2, at Malone's Hall of Fame City Challenge.

Individual recaps are below. The Lakers will return to action at the Hall of Fame City Challenge with matches against host Malone and West Alabama.


Northwood 3, Mercyhurst 0
Alyssa Kling led the Laker effort with nine kills and four total blocks while Abby Rose and Makayla Mollé made 14 assists each as the Lakers fell 25-22, 25-16, 25-23.

Hannah Vuylsteke and Katie Baird had 16 and 11 digs, respectively, for the Mercyhurst defense.

Meredith Collins led Northwood with nine kills and Hailey Jones made 26 assists. Brenna Murphy added 14 digs.

Mercyhurst held an 11-9 lead in the opening set before NU charged back with a 12-4 stretch to take command of the first. Northwood built a seven-point lead in the second set and held off a late Laker surge.

A back-and-forth third set featured ties at every point from 13 through 23 before two straight NU points ended the match.


Charleston 3, Mercyhurst 2
The Lakers held match point twice -- during the third and fifth sets -- but ultimately dropped the decision, 25-27, 21-25, 27-25, 25-22, 16-14.

Shelby Chesko had 15 kills and Alyssa Zirnheld put down 13 kills for Mercyhurst (0-2). Katie Baird added 11 kills and 10 digs while Mollé and Vuylsteke contributed 23 and 20 assists, respectively. Vuylsteke also had 20 digs and Leah Kern made five total blocks.

For UC, Janeese Vervelde led the way with 15 kills while Chloe Massaro (26) and Claire Lambert (23) combined for 49 assists.

Mercyhurst faced set point in the opening set, but a 6-1 run helped the Lakers take a 1-0 match lead. Chesko placed two kills in that comeback.

In the second, the Lakers snapped an 18-all tie and outscored Charleston, 7-3, the rest of the way to take a 2-0 advantage. Zirnheld had two kills in the closing rally.

Facing match point in the third, Charleston stormed to a 4-1 run to claim the set. UC used another run in the fourth -- a five-point streak -- to erase an 18-16 deficit and eventually even the match at 2-2.

Then, in the fifth, Mercyhurst led 14-12 before Charleston ended the match with a 4-0 run.