April 2, 2008

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - The St. Francis (Pa.) Red Flash men's volleyball team set the tone early by hitting .619 in game one and Mercyhurst was unable to fight back in a 30-22, 29-31, 30-23, 30-26 loss Wednesday.

St. Francis followed up that stellar opening game by hitting .560 in game two and finished the match with a .410 hitting percentage. The Lakers still found a way to pull out a game-two victory but the Red Flash held Mercyhurst to .114 and .088 hitting in the final two games to pick up the win.

Dave Newman led Mercyhurst with 19 kills on 29 swings with just three errors for a .552 attack percentage. The Lakers also dished out seven service aces but the team finished well below its season average with just 6.0 team blocks.

After St. Francis pulled away midway through the opening game, the Lakers bounced back in game two. Trailing 29-28, Mercyhurst fed Newman for three consecutive kills and the 31-29 victory.

In game three, the Lakers were as close as two points at 14-12 but St. Francis scored six of the next seven points to put the game away. Game four way close throughout and David Hatten and Newman combined on a block that got Mercyhurst within one at 26-25. But Alex Fortney got a kill and the Lakers had an attack error that gave St. Francis enough breathing room to put the match away.

St. Francis improves to 10-13 on the year and Mercyhurst falls to 5-17. The Lakers play at defending national runner-up IPFW Friday at 7 p.m.