CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- The Mercyhurst split on day two of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference/Mountain East Conference Crossover on Saturday, defeating Charleston (W. Va.), 3-2, before falling to Urbana, 3-1.
The Lakers (2-6) will return to action on Wednesday when they host NAIA-school Point Park for a 7:05 p.m. contest.
Mercyhurst 3, Charleston 2 (23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12)
Katie Baird put down 20 kills and made 12 digs as the Lakers outlasted host UC through five sets.
Alyssa Zirnheld and
Tess Ganich added 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
Claire Kenny made 33 assists and
Mary Marusza added 18 assists.
Beth Brady and
Zoe Gadomski had 14 digs apiece and
Alyssa Kling contributed five total blocks.
Carly Granger led Charleston with 21 kills and Chloe Massaro made 32 assist.s
The match was a back-and-forth affair in each set. During the first, Charleston broke a 20-20 tie and held on to take the first set. Mercyhurst evened the score in the second, closing with a 7-4 run after the set was tied at 18-all.
In the third, Charleston snapped a 22-22 knot with a set-ending 3-1 run, but the Lakers responded with a comeback victory in the fourth. MU faced an early 4-1 deficit before coming back to even the match at 2-2.
The fifth set was tied 8-8 before Mercyhurst finished with a 7-4 stretch.
Urbana 3, Mercyhurst 1 (25-21, 19-25, 26-24, 25-21)
Tess Ganich and
Alyssa Zirnheld smacked 14 kills each and
Katie Baird had 11 for the Lakers.
Claire Kenny compiled 22 assists and 10 digs.
Mary Marusza made 15 assists,
Zoe Gadomski finished with 12 digs and
Larissa Cass put down four total blocks.
Hannah Delor had 20 kills to lead Urbana and Deandra Atwood made 26 assists.
Urbana took a 3-0 lead in the first set and never trailed to take a 1-0 match advantage before the Lakers evened the score at 1-1 in the second. During the second, Mercyhurst trailed 16-14 before closing the set with an 11-3 run.
Urbana powered past MU in the third after trailing 22-15 and then pulled away with a 4-1 run late in the fourth to claim the victory.