ERIE, Pa. — Mercyhurst (6-11, 2-3 NEC) defeated Le Moyne (0-16, 0-5 NEC) 3-0 on Friday. The Lakers won the sets 26-24, 25-18 and 25-20 while recording nine service aces and holding Le Moyne to a .094 hitting percentage.
The Lakers closed the first set by answering a 24-24 tie with a
Payton Melin kill from
Roslyn Guerra and a
Julia Shepherd-
Ava Carney block to finish a 26-24 win. Earlier, Mercyhurst fell behind 2-0 before
Alyssa Krause served the team from 1-2 to 5-2, adding an ace while Shepherd and
Anna Logan supplied kills. Le Moyne later moved in front 13-9, but the Lakers worked back to 16-16 on a Logan ace and a Shepherd kill from Krause. After Le Moyne led 20-19, the Lakers pushed ahead behind a
Mia Mattingly kill, a Melin kill and two Le Moyne errors, then recovered after Katie Barbour's ace tied the set at 24-24.
The Lakers answered a 2-1 deficit with six straight points in the second set, using five consecutive service points from Logan and kills by
Madison Miner and
Erin Robbins to move ahead 7-2. After Le Moyne cut the margin to 8-6, the Lakers rebuilt it with a Miner kill, two
Mya Comer service aces during a four-point service turn and a Mattingly kill before Miner's ace made it 15-7. Mattingly and Melin added kills as the Lakers reached 20-10, and
Sarah Barnum and Robbins combined on a block before
Sarina Notaro's ace pushed the score to 23-14. Le Moyne won the next four points, but Robbins put down a kill for set point and Mercyhurst closed the set at 25-18 on a Le Moyne attack error.
The Lakers moved in front in the third set with a four-point run after falling behind 6-5, getting a tying kill from Robbins before Miner served three consecutive points that included a Melin kill for a 9-6 lead. Le Moyne cut the margin to 12-11, but Melin and Carney combined on a block, and Mercyhurst later used a Barnum kill, a
Kelsie Gaiter-Davis ace and a Miner kill to build a 17-13 advantage. Robbins added kills for 18-14 and 19-15, and Le Moyne errors during Miner's serve pushed the Lakers ahead 21-15. After Le Moyne scored four straight to get to 22-20, the Lakers closed the set on three consecutive points: a service error, a block by Carney and Barnum and Carney's final kill for a 25-20 finish.
Robbins led the Lakers with seven kills and nine points while hitting .583. Mattingly finished with five kills on seven attacks without an error to hit .714. Krause recorded a team-high 13 assists and added two service aces. Carney tallied four kills and a team-high three blocks.
The Lakers will return to the court when they take on Le Moyne on Saturday, Oct. 17. Coverage is set to begin at 4 p.m.
