Mercer University
UNC Greensboro
Volleyball Falls in Heartbreaking Fashion at SoCon Tournament
11/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Caroline Carlton had a career-high 17 kills and Mercer led two sets to none, but UNC Greensboro stormed back to claim a 3-2 (25-27, 20-25, 25-17, 25-15, 15-12) victory in Saturday evening's Southern Conference tournament quarterfinal at Fleming Gymnasium.
Mercer's season concludes at 11-20 (6-10 SoCon) while UNCG improves to 20-10 (11-5 SoCon) and advances to face Samford in Sunday's semifinal round.
"The team played with energy and focus throughout the match," Mercer head coach Damian Elder said. "I'm proud of them and the work they put in to get to this point. Tonight we just got beat by better volleyball from a well-coached team."
Carlton's career finale saw her hammer out the 17 kills with just five errors for a .255 hitting percentage. The Franklin, Tennessee native also added four digs and four block-assists in the loss.
Sophomore Ellie James and freshman Emily Krogman joined her with double figure kill totals, adding 15 and 10, respectively. James posted 16 digs as well for her fourth double-double of the season, while sophomore Tori Penrod finished just short of matching a career best with 31 digs.
After garnering the No. 6 seed in the tournament, Mercer was faced with the unenviable task of traveling to the tournament host and third-seeded UNCG, who had defeated the Bears twice during the regular season. Mercer's bid at the program's first conference tournament win was also hindered when All-SoCon second team performer Molly Locke was sidelined with injury earlier this week.
In the first set, the Bears trailed 17-10 when Elder called a timeout to halt the Spartans' momentum. His tactic worked, as the Bears ripped off a 9-2 run out of the stoppage to tie matters at 19-19.
The set was still tied at 25-25 when Krogman and sophomore setter Hannah Noon teamed up for back-to-back kills to secure the opening frame victory.
In the second set, things were tight until the Bears rallied for three-straight scores to take a 14-11 advantage. UNCG came back to go ahead 16-15, but Mercer used another surge – this time 5-1 – to go back up by three. Mercer maintained the advantage the rest of the way to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.
In the third set, the Spartans broke away from a 5-5 tie with a 9-2 charge and never looked back en route to the win. The fourth set was also back-and-forth early on before the Spartans jumped ahead 18-12 and ultimately pushed the match to a deciding fifth frame.
UNCG went up 7-2 in the fifth, but Mercer got back within two at 7-5 and later scored four-straight times to knot the set at 10-10. The hosts would eventually complete the comeback by scoring the final three points of the match.
Noon dished 45 assists and nearly had her third double-double of the year with nine digs. Senior Cara Tripp chipped in nine kills on 26 swings in her final match in Orange and Black.
Freshman Claire Walizcek was credited with 10 digs, two assists and a service ace in the loss.
