IUP Sweeps Four Matches at Mercyhurst Tournament to Remain Undefeated

IUP-Shepherd Boxscore
IUP-Davis & Elkins Boxscore
IUP-Fairmont State Boxscore
IUP-Mercyhurst Boxscore

IUP ran its season opening winning streak to eight matches with four wins at the Mercyhurst Tournament in Erie.  The Indians posted 3-0 wins over Shepherd, Davis & Elkins, Fairmont State and the host Lakers.

On Friday, the Indians downed Shepherd by scores of 30-17, 30-19, 30-23 and then came back to rout Davis & Elkins by a count of 30-11, 30-17, 30-9. 

On Saturday, IUP defeated Fairmont State, 30-24, 30-22, 30-13 and then posted a 30-21, 30-28, 30-17 triumph over Mercyhurst.

In the win over Shepherd, Brittany Gates led the way with 15 kills and five blocks.  Trisha Gerus and Michelle Jones both had 10 kills, with Gerus adding three blocks.  Jill Bixler had eight kills while Heather Bauer contributed three blocks.

Alicia Koches passed her way to 41 assists and also had three service aces.  Krista Nordby paced the defense with 18 digs while Carri Cole (14) and Jackie Bishop (10) combined for 24 digs.

Gates had nine kills and four blocks in the win over Davis & Elkins.  Gerus and Amanda Dawson both made five kills, and Kelly Wolff and Kelly Murray had four kills. 

Koches had 29 assists while Nordby and Cole had eight and six digs, respectively.

Against Fairmont State, Bixler had 12 kills and 10 digs, Jones had 11 kills, and Gates and Bauer nailed seven kills.  Gates also had four blocks and Bauer had three.  Koches had 37 assists, 12 digs and two aces.

Nordby registered 15 digs, Cole had nine and Bishop had eight.

In the tournament finale against Mercyhurst, Gerus led the way with 14 kills (in 18 attempts) to go along with three blocks.  Gates added eight kills, five blocks and seven digs while Jones posted 11 kills.

Koches handed out 40 assists while making seven digs and three aces.  Bauer had six kills, Bixler added 15 digs and three aces and Nordby recorded 14 digs while Bishop had seven.

IUP travels to Charleston, W.Va., next weekend for matches against Mars Hill and Rockhurst on Friday and Northern Kentucky and West Virginia State on Saturday.