Feb. 15, 2007

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's volleyball team had its chance to rally against Ball State, but the Cardinal closed out a tight third game and defeated the Lakers 30-21, 30-20, 31-29 Thursday at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.

After Ball State cruised through the first two games, the Lakers began to find some rhythm in game three. A Joe Montroy kill gave Mercyhurst a 10-7 lead and the Lakers still led by three on a Mike Palaschak ace that pushed the score to 15-12.

Ball State rallied by scoring seven of the next eight points and looked as if it would roll to the three game win. The Cardinal built the lead to five at 25-20 and still led 29-27. Ball State's Ben Irwin followed with a service error and Jeff Hartman had an ace to tie the score and force a Cardinal time out. Ball State closed out the match from there on a Justin Orr block and a Mark Termion kill.

Dave Newman led Mercyhurst with 11 kills and five digs, while Montroy added 10 kills and a .471 attack percentage to go with three digs and three blocks. Mike Palaschak had seven kills and a .750 attack percentage, while David Hatten dished out 39 assists. The Lakers had seven blocks as a team, two more than Ball State.

Ball State improved to 7-4 overall and 2-0 in the MIVA with the victory, while Mercyhurst fell to 0-10 overall and 0-5 in conference. The Lakers will host No. 7 IPFW Saturday at 7 p.m.