Oct. 19, 2007

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - With four players recording double figure kills, the Mercyhurst women's volleyball team produced one of its most impressive performances of the season and downed visiting GLIAC foe Findlay in five games Friday evening.

The victory snapped the Lakers' (15-11, 3-10 GLIAC) six-match losing skid and gave them their first victory in the month of October. Meanwhile, Findlay, which entered the match tied for sixth GLIAC playoff spot, dropped to 17-10 overall and 6-7 in conference play.

Mercyhurst took the match by scores of 30-28, 19-30, 30-28, 27-30, 15-12. It was also Mercyhurst's first five-game win of the season, as the team was 0-2 prior to Friday.

The Lakers started quickly, piling up 20 kills in the opening game and hitting .333 as a team. Freshman Katie Fritz paced the team with seven kills and no errors on nine swings.

Findlay dominated game two, however, holding the Lakers to just seven kills. In the third game, no team held held a lead of more than three points, and the Lakers trailed as late as 27-25 before freshman Erin English, who totaled eight kills and four blocks on the evening, cut into the lead.

The squads traded points and junior Jenna Matson retied the game at 28 with one of her four kills in the game. Findlay then committed two-straight errors to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead in the match.

Findlay fought off a late Laker charge in the fourth, but in game five, Mercyhurst opened with a 3-1 lead, using a service ace from senior Sara Kuntz. With the score tied 6-6, Findlay's Caitlyn Yoder recorded two-straight service aces to take an 8-6 lead and Findlay held on to the two-point margin until English cut the lead to one with a kill, and Fritz drilled two-consecutive kills to give Mercyhurst its first lead since 6-5.

Findlay manaaged to retie the game at 12, but senior Christine Nisbet tallied a kill to give the Lakers a one-point edge, and freshman Justine Smith, who did not play the entire fourth game, entered and quickly recorded a kill and combined with Nisbet for a block to end the match.

Matson and junior Lauren Kubinski each totaled 15 kills to lead the team. Fritz added 13 digs to go along with her career-high 14 kills. Nisbet added 10 kills and three blocks.

Sophomore Julia Butler produced her fourth-highest assist total of the season with 54 without committing an error. She also totaled 15 digs. Freshman Kendall Ashworth added a match-high 20 digs.

As a team, the Lakers finished with 66 kills--the second highest total of the season. They also tallied 10 blocks and 73 digs.

Mercyhurst returns to action on Saturday afternoon when the nation's No. 10-ranked team, Ashland, visits the Mercyhurst Athletic Center at 12 p.m.