Jan. 11, 2008

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's volleyball team outhit and blocked New York University Friday, but the Lakers lost a hard-fought four-game match to the Violets 31-29, 28-30, 30-27, 30-28 in the season opener for both teams.

Each game was decided by three points or less and Mercyhurst had opportunities to put NYU, ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division III, away but the Lakers were unable to capitalize. Mercyhurst led 15-9 in the opening game and held a 29-27 lead but the Violets picked up two Eric Chakeen kills sandwiched around a pair of Mercyhurst attack errors to win the opening stanza 31-29.

Mercyhurst had a comeback of its own in game two after falling behind by as many as five points early. The Lakers scored four straight, started with kills by Jonathan Gurr and Joe Montroy, to take a 24-22 lead and never trailed again. Clinging to a 29-28 lead, Dave Newman had one of his 13 kills to even the match at a game apiece.

Game three went back-and-forth as neither team took a lead of larger than three points. With the scored tied at 26-26, NYU scored four of the final five points, helped by an attack error, a service error and a set error.

Game four was again tied at 26-26 late, but NYU scored the next two points. After a Tim Wagner kill, NYU picked up a kill from Devin Zolnowski to make it 29-27. Newman kept the Lakers alive with a kill on the next point but Zolnowski had the last of his game-high 24 kills on the final point for the 30-28 win.

Mercyhurst hit .234 for the match and NYU was at .201. The Lakers also had 10.0 team blocks compared to 8.0 for NYU. Each team had 32 digs, but Mercyhurst had 21 service errors.

Wagner led the Lakers with 15 kills, while Newman and Gurr had 13 each. Newman's .579 attack percentage was the best on the team and libero Jordan Pierson had a match-high 10 digs. David Hatten had 45 assists and four blocks, and Joe Montroy and Newman also had four blocks each.

Mercyhurst (0-1) will be back in action Saturday when the Lakers host Rutgers-Newark at 7:00 p.m. in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.