March 8, 2008

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - Tim Wagner had 14 kills and Jonathan Gurr added 10 but the Mercyhurst men's volleyball team lost to No. 9 Ball State 30-23, 30-25, 30-27 Saturday. The Lakers hung tough against the heavily-favored Cardinals but were unable to pull off the upset.

Ball State hit .333 for the match and held a 35-22 dig advantage. Despite those numbers, Mercyhurst was able to keep all three games close.

Mercyhurst fell behind 14-8 in the opening game but cut the deficit to four points on numerous occasions and trailed just 27-23 after one of Dave Newman's two solo blocks. But a Laker service error was followed by an attack error and Ball State put the first game away on one of Matt McCarthy's 13 kills in the match.

The Lakers led briefly at 10-9 in game two after a service ace but Ball State scored the next three points and never trailed again in the game. Mercyhurst was within two points at 21-19 but the Cardinals got kills by McCarthy and Patrick Durbin sandwiched around a Laker attack error to go ahead by five. Ball State cruised to the win from there.

Mercyhurst came from five points down in the final game to tie the score at 23-23 on a Wagner kill. Back-to-back blocks gave Ball State a 25-23 lead before a Cardinal attack error got Mercyhurst back within one. A J.D. Gasparovic kill, followed by another block, made the score 27-24 Ball State and the Lakers were unable to get closer than two points the rest of the way.

McCarthy, Gasparovic and Durbin proved to be too much for the Lakers as the trio combined for 34 kills on 49 swings, led by McCarthy's 13-of-15 performance with one attack error for an .800 attack percentage.

For Mercyhurst, David Hatten had 36 assists and a match-high eight digs. Newman was held to just four kills but did add four blocks.

Ball State improves to 14-6 on the year and 7-1 in MIVA play as Mercyhurst falls to 3-13 and 0-6 in the conference. The Lakers will compete at Lewis and at Loyola Chicago Friday and Saturday in two more conference matches.