Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday. To begin the afternoon, the Lakers earned their second victory of the season over West Virginia Wesleyan. In the night match, Mercyhurst lost in three straight sets to East Stroudsburg. 
 
Game One, West Virginia Wesleyan: 3-2 Win
 
Mercyhurst went down 8-4 to begin the first set until they went on a six-point run with a service ace from Kaitlin Murphy and kills from Paige Miller, Maddie Parks and Kylie Schnars making the score 10-8. Kate Hennessy recorded two kills late in the set along with one from Corinne Bechtold, but the Lakers couldn't hold on and dropped the first set of the afternoon 25-23. 
 
Set two was a back-and-forth match that opened with another ace from Murphy. Taking advantage of errors from the Bobcats and kills from Hennessy, Murphy and Bechtold tied the set at 16. After allowing WVW to score four in a row, the Lakers answered with two kills from Miller, one from Parks and an ace from Alexa Mitchell to tie things again this time at 22. A kill from Schnars and multiple errors from the Bobcats ended off set two in a win for the Lakers by a score of 25-23. 
 
After giving WVW a 7-1 lead to begin set three, Mercyhurst clawed their way back into the game on the offense of Miller, Murphy and Parks. A service ace from Zoe Gadomski made it a brand-new ball game for the Lakers tying it at 13. Hennessy and Bechtold kills ended the match 25-21 in favor of the Lakers. 
 
WVW opened set four with a nine-point run. Mercyhurst capitalized off of errors from the Bobcats and eventually tied the game at 15. Kills from Hennessy and Bechtold weren't enough for the Lakers to come back from the early deficit losing set four 25-20. 
 
Set five started off with the Bobcats and Lakers alternating points to tie at four. A service ace from Erin Wall and a kill from Murphy forced the teams to flop sides at a score of 8-7. Another kill from Murphy and more errors from WVW put the Lakers on top 17-15 and gave them their second win of the season. 
 
Bechtold, Schnars and Miller all had 11 kills for the Lakers. Schnars also racked up eight blocks and Murphy collected three aces in the Lakers win. 
 
Game Two, East Stroudsburg: 3-0 Loss
 
The Lakers started the night match down 6-1 to the Warriors. However, they came back to lead 14-12 on kills from Miller, Bechtold and Hennessy. The Lakers scored another five points with a kill and an ace from Miller. Mercyhurst couldn't hold on to the lead and fell to the Warriors 25-23.
 
Set two came to an early eight all tie after two aces from Murphy. After giving up three to the Warriors a kill from Miller and two from Schnars tied it again at 11. Again, the Lakers couldn't hold on despite two late kills from Hennessy and another from Murphy. 
 
The final set started with points on a kill from Schnars and a tip from Mitchell. An ace from Miller and two more kills from Schnars made the score 13-12 in favor of the Warriors. A seven-point run from ESU put them on top 22-15. The Lakers made a valiant effort at the end on two aces from Murphy and a kill from Bechtold but lost the third and final set by a score of 25-21. 
 
Murphy recorded four more aces for the Lakers. Bechtold and Murphy led the offense with nine kills apiece. Mitchell was the lead table setter with 19. 
 
The Lakers take the court again tomorrow afternoon against the University of Findlay.