Volleyball off to good start
September 8, 2009
Mercyhurst College women’s volleyball went 2-3 in this weekend’s Mercyhurst/Gannon Tournament.
After losing a close match in three sets in their first game against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, the Lakers came back to win two straight matches.
The team fought hard against Wisconsin-Parkside with match scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-20. Freshman Chelsea Jensen paved the way for the Lakers’ offense with 13 kills, while freshman Gretta Freyermuth and junior Justine Smith both added seven kills apiece.
Senior setter Julia Butler added to the team’s hard-fought offense on Friday with 25 assists. Butler also added to the Lakers’ defense with 19 digs while sophomore libero Kendall Ashworth had 15 digs.
Not letting Friday night’s defeat get them down, the team went on to beat both Tiffin University and Adelphi University on Saturday.
In both games, the Lakers came out with 3-0 victories, beating Tiffin 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 and Adelphi 25-19, 25-21 and 27-25.
Jensen led the team in kills in the Tiffin game with 11 kills and freshman Amanda Balasko added six kills. Butler and Ashworth each added 10 defensive digs to pull out a win for the team.
Fighting hard again in their last game of the tournament against Adelphi, Freyermuth and Smith helped the Laker offense, each adding 10 kills.
Together the team’s defense worked hard with a great contribution from many of the players.
Ashworth led the Lakers with 11 defensive digs, while Butler contributed 9, sophomore Chelsea Hennigan tallied six, and Jensen and Freyermuth notched five apiece.
The Lakers volleyball team has a 5-2 record so far this season.
Their next match is against Wheeling Jesuit University on Friday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
