Mercer Travels to Western Carolina, Hosts Furman this Weekend

Friday, October 14

Cullowhee, N.C.

6 PM

Mercer University

Western Carolina

Photo by: Evan Davies

Mercer Travels to Western Carolina, Hosts Furman this Weekend

10/13/2016 11:49:00 AM | Volleyball

Live Stats vs. Western Carolina Live Stats vs. Furman

MACON, Ga. – With a little less than one month and 11 matches remaining in the 2016 regular season, each match is proving to be a critical piece to the puzzle as Mercer gets deeper into the Southern Conference slate.

A pair of matches this weekend will be no exception, as the Bears (10-7, 2-3 SoCon) face the difficult task of traveling to Cullowhee, North Carolina to battle Western Carolina (7-12, 2-4) on Friday, Oct. 14 before quickly turning around to host Furman (8-10, 4-2) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Hawkins Arena.

Mercer is currently seventh in the conference standings due to a two-match skid, but a four-way tie for first place with 4-2 records proves there is still plenty to play for as the first leg of SoCon slate nears an end.

FRIDAY'S MATCHUP
Opponent: Western Carolina (7-12, 2-4 SoCon)
Location: Cullowhee, N.C. – Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center
Schedule: Friday, Oct. 14 – 6 p.m.
Follow Along: Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @MercerBearsVB

SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
Opponent: Furman (8-10, 4-2 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. – Hawkins Arena
Schedule: Saturday, Oct. 15 – 3 p.m.
Follow Along: Live Stats
Twitter Updates: @MercerBearsVB

NOTABLES

Senior libero Tori Penrod continues to rank among conference and national leaders in the digs category. Her 340 total digs and 5.07 digs per set average both rank second in the SoCon and 43rd and 21st, respectively, on the national leaderboard.
Mercer is one of five SoCon teams with double-digit wins. ETSU and Samford have 12 while Chattanooga and Wofford own 11.
Mercer's kills leader, Morgan MacGilvary, passed the 200-kill mark last weekend and has nine straight matches of at least 12 kills. She continues to rank seventh among SoCon players in hitting percentage (.288) and kills per set (3.13).
Since returning from an injury, senior Ellie James has provided a much-needed spark for the Bears at the outside hitter position in the past two matches. She's barely missed two double-doubles, recording nine kills in both and 14 and 18 digs, respectively, against UNCG and Samford.
Mercer will look to improve its 2-4 mark on the road and maintain its impressive 4-1 record at Hawkins Arena.
Despite a .113 hitting percentage against Samford last Friday, the Bears continue to rank second among SoCon teams with an overall .221 figure.
Claire Waliczek owns five double-doubles this season, the most of any Bear. She notched 21 assists and 10 digs last Friday in the loss to Samford.

SCOUTING WESTERN CAROLINA
Mercer will look to capitalize on a struggling Western Carolina squad that's dropped three straight SoCon matches against the likes of Wofford, ETSU and Chattanooga, all of which are involved in the four-way tie for first place. Prior to their skid, the Catamounts had earned league victories over The Citadel and Samford. Mercer split the 2015 head-to-head matchups with a 3-1 win at home on Oct. 9, 2015 but trails 5-13 in the all-time series against Western Carolina.

Although the Catamounts rank last among SoCon teams in hitting percentage (.148), their stingy defense has limited the opposition to a SoCon-best .176 mark. Western Carolina's defensive front has dominated with 168 total blocks – 21 more than the next closest conference team – and averages 2.4 blocks per set largely due to junior Katie O'Connor's 79 individual rejections.

Freshman Meagan Sanchez is one of four SoCon liberos above the 300-dig mark so far this season with 314. The Catamounts don't have a single player in the SoCon top-10 for kills this season.

SCOUTING FURMAN
Although the Paladins own a share of the SoCon lead with a 4-2 conference mark, they have had difficulty on the road this season, going 1-6. That bodes well for Mercer, which owns a 4-1 record at home. Furman's lone SoCon road match so far resulted in a 3-0 loss at UNCG.

Defending SoCon Player of the Year Annie Bierman leads the team with 190 kills (3.22 per set) while Taina Joseph has 60 blocks on the year.

Mercer has had little luck against Furman in their 17 head-to-head matches, trailing 3-14. The Paladins defeated Mercer three times in 2015, including a 3-1 decision that eliminated the Bears from the SoCon Tournament.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Volleyball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBearsVB (Twitter), and @mercervolleyball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.