Box Score

EAST STROUDSBURG – Shelby Chesko had a team-high 16 kills, the last of which came at 18-17 in the fifth set, to help Mercyhurst outlast East Stroudsburg University 3-2 at Koehler Fieldhouse on Saturday.

This is the second-straight Saturday that ESU (11-16, 3-10 PSAC) has fallen 19-17 in a decisive fifth set. Set scores for today's match were 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 19-17.

Freshman Sarah Smith had a career-high 24 kills to go along with 10 digs and four blocks for the Warriors, who had four match points thwarted by the visiting Lakers (13-11, 5-8 PSAC). Junior Desiree Claxton chipped in 15 kills and 21 digs, registering her seventh double-double of the season, while sophomore Tina Predojevic and junior Rosa Veliky added 22 digs apiece.

Statistics were nearly identical for a match which was neck-and-neck down to the final point. ESU had 100-91 and 6-5 edges in digs and aces, respectively, while Mercyhurst had a slim 66-63 advantage in kills. Both teams managed 10 blocks and 57 assists.

The Warriors saw a 15-10 lead turn into a 17-15 deficit midway through the first set after seven-straight points from the Lakers. ESU responded with a 5-0 run of its own, but the visitors then rattled off three-consecutive points to knot the score at 20-20. Smith came up big in the closing stages, firing kills for three of ESU's final five points, the last of which came at 24-23 to clinch the set.

The second set was even tighter, with neither side leading by more than four points. Trailing 22-19, a Claxton kill and an ace from junior Lydia Redman highlighted a 3-0 ESU surge to tie things up at 22-22. Redman had a pair of aces to go along with a career-high 14 digs.

Mercyhurst came back with three-straight points, evening the match at one set apiece after a Warrior attack error.

The Lakers stormed out to a 10-3 advantage in set three, but ESU responded with a 13-3 stretch, capped by back-to-back blocks from Smith and freshman Jasmine Williams, to grab a 16-13 lead. With the Warriors up by a 24-23 margin later on, Smith once again closed things out with a kill for the home side.

Mercyhurst trailed 9-5 early on in the fourth set, but controlled things the rest of the way to force a decisive fifth frame.

Veliky delivered a service ace to give ESU a commanding 5-1 edge early in the fifth. After the Lakers came back to tie the score at 12-12, kills by freshman Sam Dunphy and Smith set up ESU's first pair of match points. Kills by Lauren Kenny saved both, and the visitors won the match's final three points to secure the victory.

Kenny (14 kills) and Sarah Wegrzyn (15 kills, 19 digs) joined Chesko as Mercyhurst's offensive leaders on the day.

Senior Hanna Bergen assisted on five of ESU's 10 blocks, leading the Warriors in that category for a sixth-straight match. Williams, meanwhile, supplied a season-high seven kills.

ESU hits the road for its next two contests, playing at Edinboro at 7 p.m. on Friday and traveling to Slippery Rock for a 1 p.m. tilt  next Saturday.