Box score
MACON, GA –
It may have been a team with their backs against the wall, fighting for their playoff lives or it might have been a team just peaking at the right time. Whatever the case, the Mercer women’s volleyball team finished their season on a high note Saturday night in Jacksonville, no matter the outcome.
Although the result against the Dolphins (19-8, 15-5 A-Sun) was not what Bear’s head coach Noelle Rooke wanted, losing 3-1(25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 19-25), it is hard to deny the momentum this team gained their final three weeks of the season. Rooke admitted that this team has proven their heart in recent weeks and was impressed by the way they played on Saturday.
“I was very pleased with the girls’ effort tonight,” head coach Noelle Rooke said. “They came out fighting and never gave up throughout the match…never.”
Mercer (11-18, 9-11 A-Sun) had been on a five-game winning streak until Saturday and continued the roll into the first set taking it 25-21. Junior
Krista Hurley set the tone for the Bears leading the team with 12 kills on the day, but the Bears season-long woes of finishing out matches seemed to be their downfall once again.
“I think we woke them up a little in the first set coming out the way we did,” Rooke said. “But the last couple of games just epitomized our season, losing those games by just a couple of points.”
In the second set the Bears continued with some stellar play getting out to a quick 6-4 lead, but could just not keep up with Jacksonville as Brittany Lehmen laced 5 of her 17 kills in the set and the Dolphins squeaked out a with 25-23 win.
Again in the third, on the strength of a couple of blocks, Mercer went out on a 4-1 lead and watched the game slip away after tying up the score at 23.
“They made a few runs there in the last couple of sets that we just couldn’t come back from,” Rooke said. “We took control in that first set and I think they just fought to come back on us.”
Despite the season outcome, Rooke said she was happy with the team’s overall progress and excited to see where this team can go in the future
“I am very proud the girls,” Rooke said. “They finished strong, playing their best volleyball of the year when we expected them to. The morale in the locker room was great and I think that is a testament to the group of women we have on this team.”