Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Volleyball hosted the Golden Knights Tuesday night with Gannon able to take the win in the battle for Erie. Despite their best effort, the Lakers fell in four sets to move to 2-10 on the year.
How it Happened
Gannon got off to a fast start in the first set and never looked back from there, taking the opening canto 25-10. The Golden Knights scored the first six points of the match before the Lakers found the scoreboard, but Mercyhurst's crosstown rival didn't let the Lakers get on a run. Gannon's outside hitter Madde Blake ended up playing a big part in the opening set as she had seven kills while Emma Hall recorded eight digs in the 15-point opening set victory.
It was a reversal of roles to being the second set with the Lakers jumping out in front. Mercyhurst was able to jump out to an 11-5 lead before Gannon called a timeout and found their bearings, scoring six straight points to even things up at 11. The rest of the set was a back-and-forth affair with neither team taking control until the very end when the Golden Knights scored the final five points in the 25-21 win.
The third set looked much like the second with little separation between the two teams. There were 10 ties total in the canto alone with the largest lead being four. That deficit came at 20-16 with the Lakers down, but they didn't let things stay that long, going on a 7-2 run to pull ahead 23-22 for their first lead since it was 11-10. Mercyhurst held onto that lead thanks to a Gannon service error and a kill by Paige Miller to seal the win at 25-23.
The fourth set was close in the early going, but Gannon began to pull away. After a kill by Miller, the Lakers were behind just one at 7-6. The Golden Knights found their groove from there and went on a 10-4 run to take control and begin to wrap things up. Despite Mercyhurst's best efforts, they were unable to pull off the comeback, falling in four sets.
By the Numbers
The Lakers showed themselves to be more than capable at the net, blocking a total of eight shots compared to the Golden Knights' seven. Mercyhurst also played a very clean game with just two ball handling errors to their ledger while Gannon finished with four. The Lakers were paced by Paige Miller in kills (14) and points (16) while three players recorded double-digit assists in Alexa Mitchell, Alia Mastromatteo, and Zoe Gadomski.
What's Next
Mercyhurst will return to action on Friday, September 23rd, when they head to Edinboro to take on the fight Scots. The Lakers look for the road win with things set to begin at 6:00 p.m. before the team takes a week off before returning to play.
