The women’s volleyball team broke their seven game losing streak with a win over Mercyhurst University (12-10) on Friday, but lost to Gannon University (20-3) on Saturday when the team traveled to Erie, Pa. this past weekend.
Leading the team in kills over the weekend was senior Leah Jones with 21, while freshman Zoe Rivet led the team in assists with 31. Jones also recorded three aces in the win over Mercyhurst and junior Courtney Oberlander led the defense with 36 kills over the weekend.
In their first match on Friday, the women faced off against Mercyhurst in their 10th game of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play. The first set started strong for The Rock when they jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but Mercyhurst would eventually make it a one-point difference late at 23-22. The Rock would score the final two points to win the set 25-22.
For the second set, Mercyhurst got out in front first with a 6-2 lead. Then The Rock would go on a five-point scoring run and would take the lead 8-7. No team proved to have the upper hand until the game was tied at 25 late, when the Green and White would score the final two points again to win the set.
The third set against Mercyhurst showed that the Lakers were not going to go easy. In the late stages, Mercyhurst had a 18-15 lead, but seven straight points by The Rock would give them a 22-18 lead and would finish the set 25-22, completing their three-to-nothing match sweep.
Head Coach Laurie Lokash said Mercyhurst is a very big team, but The Rock was able to spread the offense and then bring it back to the middle.
“We played as a team,” Lokash said. “Another thing is we executed very well.”
For part two of their weekend match-up, The Rock squared off against Gannon University on Saturday. The set started out close with the team grabbing a 10-9 lead early. However, with six straight Gannon points, the Green and White found themselves in a 15-10 hole. The Green and White wouldn’t be able to catch-up as Gannon won the set 25-14.
The second set started out with no one taking control with the set tied at 10. Gannon would then score the next three points and slowly grow their lead, eventually taking the set 25-19
In the third and final set, Gannon went out to a three -to-nothing lead. The Rock would fight back though to take the lead 10-7 halfway through that was helped by a four-point scoring streak. However, Gannon would have a few scoring streaks of their own and The Rock couldn’t keep up as they lost the set 25-18 and lost the match 3-0.
“Gannon is a very big team as well that can move around very well,” Lokash said.
“We do need to cut down on our mistakes,” Lokash said. “There were too many hitting errors, and we needed to close our blocks a little better.”
The Rock is now 2-9 in PSAC play and looks to bounce back when they hit the road again and travel to West Chester, Pa. to take on West Chester University (17-7) on Friday and then travel to Cheyney, Pa. to face Cheyney University (3-17) on Saturday.
