Box Score

ERIE, PA – Lauren Hester (State College, Pa. /State College) had 10 kills and five service aces and Morgan Cerveny (Richfield, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) had a team-high 16 kills but Mercyhurst got the best of IUP 3-1 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division women's volleyball action on Saturday night.

IUP dropped the first set 25-19 before rallying with a 25-18 win in the second set. The Lakers would go on to take the final two sets 25-21 and 28-26.

The loss drops the Crimson Hawks to 18-11 overall, 6-7 in the PSAC West while Mercyhurst moves to 20-6 overall and 8-5 in the division.

The Lakers held a 12-4 lead in the opening set but IUP slowly chipped away at its deficit, going on a 9-4 run to cut it to 16-13. Mercyhurst then extended its lead to six by scoring five of the next seven points and kept that advantage with the 25-19 victory.

Mercyhurst jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set but IUP responded with a 4-1 run to cut its deficit to 6-4. The Lakers would hold an 8-4 lead before the Crimson Hawks rattled off seven straight points to take a three-point lead at 11-8.

The game would go back-and-forth, with Mercyhurst holding 17-16 lead but IUP scored five straight to take a 21-17 advantage. The Lakers scored the next point, but IUP finished them off with four straight points, including a final kill by Hester to seal the 25-18 win.

Mercyhurst again got out to an early lead in the third set, going up 4-0 and later taking an 11-4 advantage. IUP battled back as an 8-3 lead cut its deficit to one at 16-15. A pair of 3-0 runs by each team kept the Mercyhurst lead at one at 19-18 and it was later 22-21 before the Lakers scored the final three points for a 25-21 win.

In the fourth set, the Lakers held a 17-13 lead but a 7-4 run by IUP later made it 21-20. The Crimson Hawks then tied it up at 23-23 and traded points back-and-forth but the Lakers were able to score in a row for a 28-26 victory.

Elizabeth Sova (Myerstown, Pa. /ELCO) had eight kills on the night while Sarah Smiley (Worthington, OH/Thomas Worthington) had seven and Meghan Schneider (Lake Geneva, Wis. /Big Foot) added six. Sarah Alman (Indiana/Indiana) tallied 43 assists and had 14 digs. She was one of six players with double-digit digs, as Kelly Barnes (Inver Grove Heights, MN/Simley) had a team-high 20 and Joie Hrapla (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Bishop Canevin) added 16. Aubree Frye (Indiana/Indiana) also had 14 while Ericka Lentz (Reading/Holy Name) had 11 and Hester had 10.

IUP returns to the court next weekend with a pair of home matches, first on Friday night against Gannon before a Saturday afternoon match against Edinboro.