Volleyball Clips Eagles to Extend Hot Streak
4/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
MACON, Ga. - Mercer junior middle blocker Libby Hansch hammered down 11 kills and posted eight total blocks
as the Bears downed FGCU 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 27-25) in
Saturday afternoon's Atlantic Sun volleyball match at the
University Center.
Mercer has now taken victories in four-straight matches and is
10-17, 8-10 A-Sun. FGCU sees its four-match win streak snapped and
falls to 15-11 (14-5 A-Sun).
This season, Mercer is 5-3 when facing a league opponent for a
second time. The Bears' victory marked the first ever defeat
of FGCU in five all-time meetings with the Florida-based
school.
“I'm extremely proud of the way we finished off this
final home-stand of the year,” Mercer head coach Noelle
Rooke said. “FGCU is always extremely talented and this
victory shows how far we've come this season.”
Mercer placed four players in double-digit kills as the Bears
posted a .292 attack percentage in the win. For the second straight
match, sophomores Amiee Frutchey and Rachel Urbelis both recorded double-double efforts. Frutchey
contributed team-highs in both kills (13) and digs (21) while
Urbelis chipped in 11 kills and added 13 digs in the win.
Mercer setters Chelsea Gebben and Nickie
Halbert repeatedly tricked the Eagle defense, combining for
51 assists in the winning effort. Libero Charlotte Harris notched 16 digs as the Bears back line kept five Eagle
hitters under a .300 attack percentage.
In the first set, Mercer never held an advantage. In the second
stanza, each team exchanged scores until the set was knotted at 12
apiece. Following the tie, Mercer employed a 7-2 run to take a five
point lead. The Bears eventually won the second set, evening the
set-score at 1-1.
In the third frame, Mercer stormed out of the gates with a 14-6
run, capped by three consecutive kills by Frutchey. FGCU was unable
to recover as the Bears cruised to the 25-17 set win.
In the fourth set, Mercer started strong again, jumping out to a
10-2 lead. This time the Eagles responded with a 17-9 tear of their
own to tie the score at 19-19. Later in the set, with the score
tied 25-25, Frutchey smashed her 13th kill to give the hosts
match-point. Moments later, Gebben fed junior Krista
Hurley's ninth kill of the match, sealing the
victory.
Mercer will wrap up its regular season schedule with a pair of road
tests against UNF (Nov. 13) and Jacksonville (Nov. 14).
