ERIE, Pa. – The IUP women's volleyball team lost to Mercyhurst by a score of 3-1 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division matchup on Saturday afternoon in Erie.
 
The Crimson Hawks lost the opening set 25-20 before taking set two 25-15. The Lakers came back with wins of 25-20 in the third and 25-15 in the fourth to earn the match win.
 
IUP falls to 15-10 overall and 7-8 in the PSAC. Mercyhurst improves to 14-12 and 9-6 in the conference. The Crimson Hawks are now three games back of Seton Hill (19-8, 10-5) for fourth place in the division.
 
Sophomores Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa. /Indiana) and Gabrielle Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Obama Academy) led the way on Saturday with 10.5 and 10.0 points, respectively. Cignetti had a team-high nine kills, adding eight digs and a service ace. Egler had eight kills and four block assists.
 
The Crimson Hawks trailed 20-14 in the opening set but rattled off four straight points to close the gap to two, but after a Mercyhurst timeout, the Lakers scored five of the final seven points to take the opening set win. IUP was behind 13-9 in the second set before going on a big 13-1 run, eventually winning 25-15 to even the match.
 
Mercyhurst only trailed four more times the rest of the match, taking the third and fourth sets for the victory.
 
Junior Lindsay Moeller (Troy, Mich./Troy) dished out 26 assists and freshman Jess Marut (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) had 15 digs. Sophomore Alexis Anderson (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield) finished with eight kills and junior Lily McWilliams (Rockville, Md./Thomas Sprigg Wootton) added six.
 
The Crimson Hawks end their regular season with six home matches in their final seven, including a Friday-Saturday double header next weekend against Edinboro and Slippery Rock.
 
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPVB.