ERIE, Pa. – IUP women's volleyball opened up its weekend trip to Erie with a straight-set victory over Mercyhurst on Friday in PSAC West action.
IUP (15-3, 5-2) has won five of its past six matches in conference action, while Mercyhurst (2-14, 0-7) continues searching for its first conference victory. The Crimson Hawks racked up their ninth sweep of the season with set victories of 25-14, 25-17 and 25-21, hitting .382 as a team on the night.
Nicole Peterson guided the IUP offense with 11 kills and four aces and a .478 hitting percentage.
Grace Mangapora added a team-high 12 kills with eight digs, while
Leah Henderson passed out 28 assists with 10 digs for a double-double.
Lauren Valentic chipped in seven kills with a pair of block assists and
Brooke Little smacked six kills for IUP. Kate Hennessy recorded a match-high 16 kills for Mercyhurst as Alexa Mitchell dealt out 18 assists.
IUP got off to a commanding start, racing out to a 10-0 lead in the opening set. The Crimson Hawks remained in control as the set progressed with a block from
Caroline Walsh pushing the advantage to 16-3. While Mercyhurst worked to battle back in the frame, the Crimson Hawks closed it out with a kill from Peterson for a 25-14 victory.
In total, three different Crimson Hawks posted kills to go along with a pair service aces in the opening run of the first set. IUP hit a blistering .433 as a team in the opening set, adding four aces to cruise to a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set was more rightly contested as IUP used a four-point surge to storm ahead 12-7. A string of kills for Peterson and a block assist from Little and Valentic pushed IUP ahead 15-9, prompting a Mercyhurst timeout. The Crimson Hawk offense continued hitting at a stellar clip, firing down four consecutive points for a 21-14 advantage, capped by Peterson's 10th kill of the evening. The visitors notched three of the final four points of the set for a 25-17 victory.
Mercyhurst held an early lead in the third set at 7-5 before the Crimson Hawks chipped away for a hard-earned set victory. Consecutive service aces from Henderson pushed IUP back in front at 9-8, part of a larger stretch of four consecutive tallies. Peterson dropped in her third ace of the set, propelling IUP ahead at 12-9.
The Lakers stayed within a couple points of IUP in the third set, using a stretch of three straight to get back to within 16-14 following a Hennessy kill. Corrine Bechtold leveled the set score at 17 for the Lakers before IUP pulled ahead slightly. The Crimson Hawks held onto the slim lead, closing out the set off consecutive Laker attack errors.
The Crimson Hawks have won three consecutive meetings with Mercyhurst with a sweep of the Lakers last season, coupled with Friday's victory.
Up Next
IUP continues its Erie road trip on Saturday, October 8 visiting Gannon at 2:00 p.m.
The Lady Knights entered the weekend near the top of the PSAC West standings, falling to division-leading Clarion on Friday night.
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawks and @IUPVB.
