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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.- The Slippery Rock University volleyball team lost to conference foe Mercyhurst in three sets on Friday night in The Rock's annual Dig for the Cure match at Morrow-Field House.

Slippery Rock recorded 44 digs in the match. The amount raised for the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition in the event will be totaled up over the weekend and released next week.

SRU falls to 8-13 overall and 1-7 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference with the loss, while Mercyhurst improves to 10-9 overall and 5-3 in the conference.

The Lakers led The Rock for the first half of the first set until SRU had a 9-1 run to take a 17-14 lead. Mercyhurst responded with four straight points to take back the lead, 18-17. The teams tied it up three more times until the Lakers closed out the match with a 5-2 run to earn a 25-22 win. Mercyhurst jumped The Rock in the second set with four unanswered points. The Rock would get no closer than two points for the remainder of the set, as the Lakers went on to get the 25-21 win. Slippery Rock got out to a 7-5 lead in the third set, but Mercyhurst scored four straight points to take the lead at 9-7. The Lakers pulled away from the hosts after that to earn a 25-17 win.

Freshmen Kelsey Boyle and Beth Stumpf recorded eight kills apiece for The Rock, while classmate Shayla Ray added seven. Sophomores Haley Defibaugh and Hanna Lombardo had 16 kills each, while sophomore Courtney Oberlander had 11 digs in the loss.

Mercyhurst held a 47-34 advantage in kills, 42-33 in assists and 7-1 in total blocks, while The Rock held a 4-2 advantage in service aces and played the Lakers evenly in digs (44-44).

The Rock will stay home through the weekend and host Gannon Saturday at 2 p.m. at Morrow Field House.