Games #25-26 vs Mercyhurst University (NEC)
Info: Friday, Nov. 7 / Saturday, Nov. 8
Syracuse, N.Y. | Ted Grant Court | 6:00 P.M. / 1:00 P.M.
Watch: NEC Front Row (Friday) / NEC Front Row (Saturday)
Live Stats: https://lemoynedolphins.com/sidearmstats/wvball/

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College volleyball team will return to Ted Grant Court for their final home matchups of the 2025 regular season against the Mercyhurst Lakers on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8. The Dolphins will celebrate Senior Day for setter/DS Haley Gerken (Buffalo, N.Y. / Frontier) and middle hitter Nil Ezgi Tasdelen (Izmir, Turkey/Ugur Okullari) before Saturday's game. 

Matchup History:
The Dolphins are currently 0-5 against the Lakers all-time, with matches dating back to the 1992 season. Mercyhurst won all three non-conference matchups in 1992, 1993, and 2007 before joining the NEC alongside Le Moyne prior to the 2024 season.

Last year, Mercyhurst swept the conference set (3-2, 3-0) at home against the 'Phins to end the regular season. 

During their two matches in 2024, junior opposite hitter Branwyn Lupton (Napanee, O.N. / Napanee District Secondary School) led the way with 20 kills to go along with four block solos and 24.0 points for Le Moyne. Sophomore setter Skylar Jehlen (Rochester, N.Y. / Churchville Chili) and Gerken put up team-highs with 37 and 35 assists, respectively. 

Junior libero/DS Haley Buescher (Toledo, O.H./St. Ursula Academy) and sophomore libero/DS Brooke Menke (St. Louis, M.O. / Visitation Academy) tallied the team lead in digs with 25 and 23 apiece through the two matches.

Dolphins' Season:
Le Moyne sits with a 4-20 record overall with a 3-9 mark in conference play through 24 matches this season.

Le Moyne opened the year in the Salt City Classic from Aug. 29-31 where they suffered losses at the hands of both Rider (1-3) and Syracuse (0-3) while downing Niagara (3-2) in their lone victory of the season this far. The team then traveled to Delaware to take part in a three-match set at the Blue Hen Invitational from Sept. 6-7. Le Moyne fell in their three matchups to Hampton (2-3), Virginia Tech (0-3), and host Delaware (0-3) before traveling to Maryland for the Navy invitational on Sept. 12-13. 

The Dolphins dropped their first match to Gardner-Webb (0-3) before rounding out the weekend with a loss at the hands of Navy in similar three-set fashion. The squad then returned home for a mid-week home match with Canisius on Sept. 17 where they fell in three sets before dropping both legs of the Syracuse Invitational against St. John's (0-3) and Siena (0-3) from Sept. 19-20. The Dolphins then dropped their non-conference finale on the road against Holy Cross, 3-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Le Moyne dropped the opening series of their conference slate against LIU at home in three sets from Oct. 3-4 before dropping a midweek matchup on the road against FDU (0-3) on Oct. 8. The squad then swept their season series against Chicago State (3-1and 3-0) at home for their first NEC wins of 2025 on Oct. 10-11.

Since mid-October, the Dolphins dropped two five-set matches on the road against Stonehill from Oct. 17-18 before falling to CCSU in three sets at home on Oct. 24 and sweeping the Blue Devils in a similar three-set fashion the following day. The squad then forced FDU to five sets at home on Oct. 29 but eventually fell to the Knights, 2-3, before being swept by NEC-newcomer New Haven on the road (0-3, 1-3) this past weekend, Oct. 31-Nov. 1. 

Lupton leads Le Moyne with 239.0 points and 214 kills while sitting third on the team with 48.0 blocks this year. Sophomore outside hitter Nina Salas (Austin, T.X. / McNeil) sits just behind with 202.0 points and 178 kills for the Dolphins while fellow sophomore opposite hitter Denali Louden (Murrieta, C.A. / Murrieta Mesa) is the third and final Dolphin to reach the century mark in both points (126.5) and kills (115) so far this season. 

Gerken has led the team with 475 digs which places her fifth in the NEC. Jehlen follows with 208 assists and 16 service aces. Menke leads the team in the service aces category with 30 through 21 matches in 2025. 

Defensively, Menke also leads the Dolphins with 283 digs and 3.77 digs per set while freshman middle hitter Eiley Schneider (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) sits atop the standings with 64.0 blocks (good enough for seventh best in the conference), just ahead of Tasdelen who has tallied 51.0 blocks, as well.

A Look at the Chargers:
Mercyhurst has played to an 8-17 overall record with a 6-6 mark in conference action this season, head coach Ryan Patton's 21st with the program. 

The Chargers opened the season with a 2-11 record through invitational play from Aug. 29-Sept. 20, downing Holy Cross (3-0) and Canisius (3-2) while dropping matches against Youngstown State, Canisius, Duquesne, Jacksonville, St. Peter's, Holy Cross, Binghamton, Bucknell, Bellarmine, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Toledo. Since then, the squad has gone 6-6 in NEC play. 

Mercyhurst opened conference action by splitting a pair of home matches against FDU (0-3, 3-1) before falling in three consecutive three-set matchups including one against Saint Francis and two at LIU from Oct. 7-11. Over the following two weekends, the Lakers went 4-0 at home after sweeping New Haven (3-2, 3-1) and Stonehill (3-1, 3-1). Since then, Mercyhurst dropped their second matchup against Saint Francis (1-3) on Oct. 29 and split their season series with the CCSU Blue Devils (1-3, 3-1) this past weekend.

On offense, graduate opposite hitter Julia Shepherd leads the Lakers with 282.5 points and 240 kills while redshirt junior outside hitter Andrea Zaric has registered another 222.0 points and 192 kills through 25 matches played. Senior setter Alia Mastromatteo (427) and junior setter Alyssa Krause (344) have led the team in assists while Krause has also put up a team-leading 32 service aces this season.

Defensively, Mastromatteo leads with 149 digs while Krause and three others have added at least 133 digs, as well. Senior middle hitter Kaitlin Murphy 

What's Next:
The Dolphins will travel to Saint Francis for their final two matches of the regular season on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14-15.