Jan. 17, 2008

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - In a wild contest, the Mercyhurst men's volleyball team fought back from two games down to even its match with Nazareth Thursday, only to come up short in the fifth game of a wild 30-28, 30-23, 38-40, 32-34, 15-9 decision. The start of the match was delayed 90 minutes after Nazareth's bus broke down on the trip to Erie.

After looking sluggish in the opening two games, Mercyhurst dodged seven match points in a third game that turned into one of the wildest in recent Laker memory. The team's only lead of the game came on the final point and Nazareth looked in control, taking a 29-27 lead on a Joe Petzoldt kill. But Dave Newman, who recorded 10 kills in the third game alone and a game-high 24 for the match, picked up a kill, followed by one from setter David Hatten to tie the score at 29-29.

After a Mercyhurst service error, Joe Montroy tied the score with a kill and the two teams traded points back-and-forth until the score was tied at 38-38. Montroy came up with another kill to put the Lakers on top 39-38 and then he paired up with Jeff Hartman for a block that gave the Lakers the win.

Mercyhurst rode the momentum into the fourth game and took an early 10-6 lead. The Lakers still clung to a 12-11 advantage when Hatten, who had 49 assists at that point, was forced to leave the match with an injury. Back-up Pete Swauger entered the contest and picked up where he left off, guiding the team to a 34-32 win in which Mercyhurst staved off three more match points before two Nazareth attack errors and a Jeff Hartman kill gave the Lakers the win.

In just getting to a fifth game, Mercyhurst expended a lot of energy and the Lakers struggled from the start in the fifth game. Mercyhurst never had the lead in the deciding game and Nazareth hit a game-high .600 in the fifth stanza as the Laker blockers were unable to stop the Golden Flyers' offense.

Newman hit .526 for the match to go with his 24 kills and added six blocks and an ace. Freshman Jonathan Gurr had 16 kills and seven digs and Tim Wagner had 12 kills. Hartman and Montroy finished with 10 kills each. Nazareth had 10 more digs than the Lakers, 47-37, and the Golden Flyers hit .293 for the match, bettering the Lakers' .233. Mercyhurst did outblock Nazareth 12-11 and each team had three aces on the evening.

Nazareth improves to 2-1 on the season and Mercyhurst falls to 0-3. The Lakers host No. 10 IPFW Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) conference opener.