Lakers Take Opening Game Against Buckeyes; Upset Bid Falls Short :: Mercyhurst hosts its second ranked team in a row Saturday as the Lakers play No. 9 Ball State.

Mercyhurst hosts its second ranked team in a row Saturday as the Lakers play No. 9 Ball State.

March 6, 2008

Erie, Pa. - For most of the first two games, the Mercyhurst men's volleyball team had No. 11 Ohio State on the ropes Thursday. The Lakers stunned the Buckeyes by winning the opening game 30-28 and had game two knotted at 22-22 before Ohio State rallied to win the match in four games 28-30, 30-24, 30-23, 30-20.

Mercyhurst scored eight straight points and jumped out to a 10-2 lead as Ohio State struggled to find any offensive rhythm. The Buckeyes seemed to settle down and closed to within four points at 14-10 but the Lakers refused to roll over against the heavy favorites. Mercyhurst built the lead back to seven points at 26-19 before an Ohio State run cut the deficit to two points at 28-26. A block from Ron Cierniakoski and Bryan Ritter made it 29-26 but the Buckeyes got kills from Jason Tobkin and Robbie Klein to get within one. Holding to that slim lead, Mercyhurst setter David Hatten fed Tim Wagner and his attack caught the back line to clinch the opening game for the Lakers.

Ohio State built an early lead in game two but Mercyhurst refused to go away. The Buckeyes took the 9-6 advantage in the early going but would not push that lead beyond three points until taking an 18-14 advantage. The Lakers went on a 7-3 run and tied the match at 21-21 on a block from Hatten and Dave Newman to. With the score still tied at 22-22, Ohio State reeled off four consecutive points and won 30-24.

In both games three and four, Ohio State took an early lead and never relinquished its front-runner status, cruising to wins in both games and the match victory.

Mercyhurst kept Ohio State off-balance at the net, picking up 14.0 team blocks. Newman had the second double-digit block match of his career, finishing with two solo and eight assist blocks. He also had nine kills. Tim Wagner paced the Lakers with 10 kills and Jeff Hartman had nine kills and eight digs. Hatten dished out 38 assists and added five digs, five blocks, four kills and a service ace.

Ohio State improved its attack percentage in each game, building from an .024 rate in the opener to .345 in game two, .367 in game three and .400 in the final game. For the match, the Buckeyes hit .248 compared to .205 for Mercyhurst.

Ohio State improves to 10-6 on the year and 6-1 in MIVA play, while Mercyhurst falls to 3-12 and 0-5 in the conference. The Lakers will host No. 9 Ball State Saturday at 8 p.m.