Mercer University
East Tenn. St.
Bears Fall By 3-1 Decision at ETSU
10/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – The Mercer volleyball team could not sustain its quick start on Friday night and dropped a 3-1 decision to East Tennessee St. in Atlantic Sun play.
The Bears (8-16, 1-6 A-Sun), coming off an impressive 3-1 non-conference win on Tuesday night against UT-Chattanooga, continued their strong play in the first set taking a fast 25-18 win against the Lady Bucs on Friday night. However, ETSU was able to rally in the final three sets to take the four-set conference match, 25-18, 23-25, 17-25, and 15-25.
Junior outside hitter Jamie Duffy led all Mercer players with 11 kills on the night, while fellow junior setter Madeline Dolny recorded a double-double, leading the Bears with 21 assists and 12 digs.
Caroline Carlton, who had a season-high offensive performance on Tuesday, also continued her strong play as she finished the match with nine kills on the strength of a .227 hitting percentage.
Mercer held the lead from first serve in the first set and looked poised to make for an interesting match. The tight contest continued into the second set as the Bears kept the score within one down to set point. ETSU's Meredith Hardy came up with the final blow of the second set to give the Lady Bucs the momentum shift and the 25-23 set-two win.
From there, Mercer was unable to keep pace as ETSU pulled away in the final two sets winning by eight and 10 points respectively.
However, another bright spot for the Bears was senior libero Charlotte Harris. Harris tied for the game-high 20 digs on the night, pushing her season total to 340. She is now just 73 digs shy of 1,300 for her career.
The Bears have another quick turnaround as the team heads for a Spartanburg, S.C. for a 3 p.m. match against USC Upstate tomorrow.
