Vestal, N.Y. – The Mercyhurst Women's volleyball team opened up their play at the Binghamton Invitational, playing against Binghamton and Bucknell. The Lakers dropped both matches of the day, falling 3-0 to both Binghamton and Bucknell.
 
Game One
 
The Lakers lost in three sets, 25-19, 27-25 and 25-19 to Binghamton.
 
In the first set, the Lakers opened up their scoring with some scoring errors from Binghamton. They went on a three-point streak thanks to a kill from Kaitlin Murphy and Roslyn Guerra, with the additional help of more errors from Binghamton. Digs from Kelsie Gaither-Davis allowed the Lakers to create offense as well. The Lakers fought to come back, but fell short.
 
In the second set, the Lakers were way more competitive. They took the first three points in the set thanks to kills from Andrea Zaric and Julia Shepherd. They also continued to take advantage of errors from Binghamton as well. After trailing nine to six, the next three points came from three kills from Payton Melin, which helped the Lakers stay in the game. Despite having a .324 hitting percentage, it was not enough for the Lakers to complete the comeback.
 
In the third set, the Lakers kept the consistency of attacking up, rallying a .308 hitting percentage. Despite that, the Lakers battled, but could not beat Binghamton.
 
Game Two
 
The Lakers lost in three sets, 25-10, 30-28 and 25-17 to Bucknell.
 
In the first set, the Lakers opened up their scoring with a kill from Payton Melin, alongside contributions from Andrea Zaric and Kaitlin Murphy. The Lakers took advantage of attack errors from Bucknell as well. Alyssa Krause contributed an Ace as well. The Lakers fought, but it was not enough.
 
In the second set, the Lakers came out with more tenacity. Kaitlin Murphy started the scoring again with a kill, alongside attack errors from Bucknell. The Lakers were able to get more points from Julia Shepherd as well. Lakers also had key blocks from Trinity Tatupu and Mia Mattingly that kept them in the game as well. Alia Mastromatteo was able to get back-to-back aces which helped the Lakers get a one-point lead. The Lakers kept going back and forth, but could not complete the comeback.
 
In the third set, Murphy and Sarah Barnum got the scoring started for the Lakers. Bucknell kept making costly service and attack errors, which helped the Lakers stay close in the game. The Lakers went on a four-point streak as well thanks to a kill from Murphy and Roslyn Guerra. Sydney Forcht was also able to get an ace, which also then led to an attack error from Bucknell. This helped the Lakers get within two. The Lakers battled, but could not beat Bucknell.
 
The Lakers continue play at the Binghamton Invitational when they square off against Canisius tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.