Jan. 26, 2008

Box Score

Loretto, Pa. - The Mercyhurst men's volleyball team battled St. Francis (Pa.) but was unable to pick up points late in games as the Lakers lost 30-28, 30-25, 30-27 Saturday on the road.

Mercyhurst had St. Francis on the ropes in the opening game but a Jordan Varee kill gave the Golden Flash a 29-27 lead and, after a Dave Newman kill closed the gap to one, a Mercyhurst attack error closed out the first game.

The Lakers were within two points in game two at 26-25 but St. Francis scored four of the final five points for the win. In the final game, Mercyhurst scored four straight points to close to within two at 29-27, but the Golden Flash put the match away with another kill from Varee.

Newman led Mercyhurst with 13 kills and six blocks. Jeff Hartman and Tim Wagner added 11 apiece as David Hatten dished out 32 assists and had six digs. Gary Coad led the Lakers with 11 digs.

As a team, Mercyhurst continues to defend well at the net and had 9.0 blocks, compared to just 3.5 for St. Francis. It marks the fifth time in seven matches that the Lakers have outblocked an opponent. The Lakers hit .280 for the match but St. Francis was at .348.

St. Francis improves to 2-4 on the year and Mercyhurst falls to 0-7. The Lakers will host MIVA opponent Loyola of Chicago Friday at 7 p.m. and will follow that up with another conference match at home against Lewis Saturday at 7 p.m.