Friday, October 14
Cullowhee, N.C.
6 PM
Mercer University
10-8, 2-4SoCon
2
at
3
Western Carolina
8-12, 3-4SoCon
1
2
3
4
5
F
Mercer
25
17
26
17
13
2
Western Carolina
19
25
24
25
15
3
Team Stats
MER
WCU
Kills
54
49
Errors
36
23
Attempts
183
166
Hitting %
.098
.157
Points
69.0
71.0
Assists
49
47
Aces
8
6
Blocks
7.0
16.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
4
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballOpp.
/ VolleyballOpp.
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
Photo by: David Scearce
Mercer Falls in Five Sets at Western Carolina
10/14/2016 10:28:00 PM | Volleyball
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Mercer dropped its third straight Southern Conference match as Western Carolina claimed five of the final seven points in a decisive fifth set to defeat the Bears, 3-2 (25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 17-25, 15-13), on Friday evening at the Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center.
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Western Carolina (8-12, 3-4 SoCon) won the fourth and fifth sets to rally past Mercer (10-8, 2-4) and snap a three-match skid of its own. The Bears, who led the match 2-1 after three frames, held six different leads in the final set before the Catamounts pulled off the win in front of their home crowd.
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At the heart of the five-set loss was Mercer's .098 hitting percentage, which is the second-worst mark of the season.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 (25-19) | An ace by Emily Krogman put the Bears up 11-10 in the opening set and they never looked back, outscoring Western Carolina 14-8 down the stretch to win 25-19. Mercer held Western Carolina to a .077 hitting percentage in the frame as Krogman notched seven kills and Tori Penrod added seven digs.
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Set 2 (17-25) | Mercer committed 10 errors and gave way to the Catamounts pulling even by taking the second set 25-17. Western led by eight points as late as 22-14 while the Bears, who never led, saw their momentum dip and couldn't piece together a comeback.
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Set 3 (26-24) | A pair of consecutive kills by Maria Avramova and Ellie James finished off a 26-24 go-ahead third set win for Mercer and gave the 2-1 advantage to the Bears. Six different Bears recorded kills in the set, led by Morgan MacGilvary's four on 10 total attacks. Krogman added two aces in the frame as well.
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Mercer's first lead of the set came on the second of three straight errors by Western Carolina, putting the Bears up 13-12. Krogman notched her fourth ace of the match two points later to give Mercer the 15-12 lead before the Orange and Black eventually held off the Catamounts for the set win. Â
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Set 4 (17-25) | Another lackluster offensive set by Mercer in the fourth set (.023 hitting percentage) was all Western needed to eventually tie it up and vault toward a decisive fifth set. Danielle Faust totaled four kills on a .300 hitting percentage, but no other Bear recorded a positive percentage in the frame as the Catamounts never looked back after taking a 4-3 lead.
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Set 5 (13-15) | Mercer looked as if it would snag a road win from the Catamounts grasp with a strong start to the final set, but a late push by the home squad sealed the Bears' fate. Hannah Noon's ace and an attack error by Western gave Mercer an 8-6 lead at the halfway mark. A kill by MacGilvary gave Mercer its final advantage, 11-10, before the Catamounts roared back with five of the final seven points to win 15-13.
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PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Emily Krogman finished with a stat line of 14 kills, 11 digs, four service aces and a .211 hitting percentage to pace the Bears in defeat. The junior got off to a scorching start by logging half of her kills on 10 total attacks in the first set. Friday marked the fourth time she's reached at least three aces in a match.
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NOTABLES
Mercer will face a tough test on little rest as it hosts Furman (8-10, 4-2 SoCon) on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Hawkins Arena. Entering Friday's slate of matches, Furman was locked in a four-way tie for first place.
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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.
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Western Carolina (8-12, 3-4 SoCon) won the fourth and fifth sets to rally past Mercer (10-8, 2-4) and snap a three-match skid of its own. The Bears, who led the match 2-1 after three frames, held six different leads in the final set before the Catamounts pulled off the win in front of their home crowd.
Â
At the heart of the five-set loss was Mercer's .098 hitting percentage, which is the second-worst mark of the season.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 (25-19) | An ace by Emily Krogman put the Bears up 11-10 in the opening set and they never looked back, outscoring Western Carolina 14-8 down the stretch to win 25-19. Mercer held Western Carolina to a .077 hitting percentage in the frame as Krogman notched seven kills and Tori Penrod added seven digs.
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Set 2 (17-25) | Mercer committed 10 errors and gave way to the Catamounts pulling even by taking the second set 25-17. Western led by eight points as late as 22-14 while the Bears, who never led, saw their momentum dip and couldn't piece together a comeback.
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Set 3 (26-24) | A pair of consecutive kills by Maria Avramova and Ellie James finished off a 26-24 go-ahead third set win for Mercer and gave the 2-1 advantage to the Bears. Six different Bears recorded kills in the set, led by Morgan MacGilvary's four on 10 total attacks. Krogman added two aces in the frame as well.
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Mercer's first lead of the set came on the second of three straight errors by Western Carolina, putting the Bears up 13-12. Krogman notched her fourth ace of the match two points later to give Mercer the 15-12 lead before the Orange and Black eventually held off the Catamounts for the set win. Â
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Set 4 (17-25) | Another lackluster offensive set by Mercer in the fourth set (.023 hitting percentage) was all Western needed to eventually tie it up and vault toward a decisive fifth set. Danielle Faust totaled four kills on a .300 hitting percentage, but no other Bear recorded a positive percentage in the frame as the Catamounts never looked back after taking a 4-3 lead.
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Set 5 (13-15) | Mercer looked as if it would snag a road win from the Catamounts grasp with a strong start to the final set, but a late push by the home squad sealed the Bears' fate. Hannah Noon's ace and an attack error by Western gave Mercer an 8-6 lead at the halfway mark. A kill by MacGilvary gave Mercer its final advantage, 11-10, before the Catamounts roared back with five of the final seven points to win 15-13.
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PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Emily Krogman finished with a stat line of 14 kills, 11 digs, four service aces and a .211 hitting percentage to pace the Bears in defeat. The junior got off to a scorching start by logging half of her kills on 10 total attacks in the first set. Friday marked the fourth time she's reached at least three aces in a match.
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NOTABLES
- Mercer has lost two in a row to Western Carolina and trails the all-times series, 5-14.
- The Bears dropped to 2-5 on the road and 2-3 in five-set matches.
- Tori Penrod recorded 25 digs Friday and has reached at least 20 in 10 matches this year. She continues to average over five digs per set (5.07) and has 365 on the season.
- Emily Krogman's 14 kills and 11 digs mark her third double-double of the season. Claire Waliczek narrowly missed her sixth double-double by posting a team-high 27 assists and nine digs.
- MacGilvary's team-leading 16 kills marked the 10th straight match she's reached double-digit figures.
- Ellie James tied a season-high with 19 digs.
- Maria Avramova set another career-high in kills with six on 18 total attacks. Her .333 hitting percentage led the Bears.
- Mercer: 10-8 (2-4 SoCon)
- Western Carolina: 8-12 (3-4 SoCon)
Mercer will face a tough test on little rest as it hosts Furman (8-10, 4-2 SoCon) on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Hawkins Arena. Entering Friday's slate of matches, Furman was locked in a four-way tie for first place.
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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.
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