ERIE, Pa. —The Mercyhurst volleyball team competed in the final day of the Mercyhurst Invitational, presented by Scott Enterprises in a match against Cleveland State. The Lakers lost to the Vikings. 3-1 (25-21, 14-25, 22-25, 18-25) on Saturday. The Lakers took the opening set after trailing 21-19, but the Lakers could not carry that start through the final three sets.
The Lakers closed the first set by winning the final seven points, turning a 21-18 deficit into a 25-21 set win behind
Alyssa Krause's serving run and late swings from
Julia Shepherd. Earlier, Mercyhurst opened with kills from
Mia Mattingly,
Madison Miner and Shepherd, then answered a Cleveland State push with
Ava Carney's kill and a
Kelsie Gaiter-Davis service ace. Cleveland State later moved ahead 20-16, but the Lakers stayed in the set with kills from Carney and
Payton Melin before Krause's serve took over. Krause's ace tied the set at 21-21,
Roslyn Guerra followed with a kill, and Shepherd added two kills plus a block touch in the closing stretch as the Lakers finished the set at 25-21.
The Lakers spent the second set responding to an early Cleveland State lead, falling behind 6-1 before Guerra put down her second kill of the set. The Lakers worked back to 9-6 on an
Anna Logan kill from Melin, but Cleveland St. answered with the next point and later pushed the margin to 14-7. Shepherd, Carney and
Kalyani Olive each added kills in the back half of the set, with Krause assisting on all three. Cleveland State kept the Lakers from stringing together a late run and closed the set at 25-14.
Mercyhurst repeatedly worked back in the third set, but Cleveland State closed out a 25-22 set after the Lakers had stayed within one late on a Mattingly kill. Earlier, the Lakers answered a 3-0 deficit with a run that included a Mattingly service ace and moved in front 5-4 on a Cleveland St. setting error. After Cleveland State went back ahead 10-6, Miner and Guerra put down kills and Melin contributed a block as the Lakers tied the set at 10-10. Shepherd delivered consecutive kills to pull the Lakers even at 14-14, and the Lakers later took brief leads at 18-17, 19-18 and 21-20 before Cleveland St. scored five of the final six points to take the set.
The Lakers' biggest move in the fourth set came when they erased a 14-9 deficit with six consecutive points, taking a 15-14 lead after Shepherd started the run with a kill and Mattingly served the next five points. Earlier, Guerra and Krause helped the Lakers open 2-0, and Miner, Carney and Guerra added kills as Cleveland State built advantages of 12-7 and 14-9. During the comeback, Shepherd added a block and another kill, Mattingly delivered a service ace and Cleveland State committed two errors. Shepherd later put the Lakers back in front 16-15 with a kill from Krause, but Cleveland St. answered from a 16-16 tie by taking seven of the next eight points and went on to close the set 25-18.
Shepherd led the Lakers with 15 kills and 17.0 points while hitting .545 and adding two solo blocks. Krause recorded 20 assists and three service aces. Gaiter-Davis collected 12 digs and added one service ace. Guerra finished with nine kills and six digs.
Looking ahead, the Lakers will remain in Erie to host the Laker Invitational, presented by Scott Enterprises. The two day invitational will feature Mercyhurst taking on Columbia and Kent State on Friday, Sep. 11, and Niagara on Saturday, Sep. 12.
