Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst Volleyball team played host to Edinboro for the first of two home games this weekend as the Lakers close out the regular season. The Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the match, but Edinboro won sets four and five to take the match 3-2.
How it Happened
The Lakers immediately jumped out to a 4-0 lead off the serves of Paige Miller. Corinne Bechtold started the scoring with a kill, and Miller capped it with a service ace. Edinboro scored the next two points, but Andrea Zaric notched a kill to get the serve back for the Lakers. Edinboro was able to cut into the Lakers lead, making it 11-9. The Lakers went on a quick 6-1 run, but Edinboro went on a 4-0 run of their own. The score was now 17-14 in favor of the Lakers. This first set was all about runs by either side as the Lakers went on another short run to extend their lead and take set one 25-19.
Edinboro took a 13-6 lead in the second set, but the Lakers didn't go away easy. A kill by Kaitlin Murphy gave the Lakers some momentum. Alexa Mitchell notched a kill of her own to make it 15-11 in favor of Edinboro. Edinboro scored the next three points before Kate Hennessy ended the run with a kill. Edinboro finished set two on a 7-3 run to win 25-15 and tied the match up at one.
A kill by Kate Hennessy tied set three up at four. A short 5-1 run gave Edinboro a 9-5 lead. The set went back and forth until Edinboro took a 14-12 lead. The Lakers went on a 6-0 run, all on the back of Andrea Zaric serving. During that run, Maggie Thomas and Kate Hennessy both had a kill, but it was the errors force by Zaric's serves that kept the run going. After the Lakers lost the serve, they got it back a point later with a kill from Mevelyn Brazoban. The Lakers were able to close out set three 25-19 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Edinboro won set four 25-18. During the set Andrea Zaric tied it with a service ace early, and a few points later, Kaitlin Murphy tied it at six with a kill, but Edinboro kept the lead most of the set. Edinboro's 6-0 run late in the set is what gave them a cushion and they closed out the set to tie the match 2-2.
The Lakers took a 1-0 lead in set five, but it was all Edinboro after that. Edinboro took set five 15-6 and took the match 3-2.
Highlights
Kate Hennessy led the Lakers in kills with 13.
Andrea Zaric had four service aces throughout the match.
Maggie Thomas finished with eight blocks.
Alexa Mitchell continued to dish out assists, finishing with 21.
Paige Miller finished the match with 22 digs, while Corinne Bechtold finished with 17, and Andrea Zaric with 15.
Next Up
The Lakers will return to action tomorrow as they close out their season with crosstown rival Gannon for Senior Day. Start time for the match is set for 1 PM.
