Mercer Hosts The Citadel in Mid-Week Battle

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will trade in its usual practice attire for match day jerseys Tuesday as it hosts The Citadel in the Bears' first mid-week match of the season at Hawkins Arena. The contest is set to start at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Following their 3-0 sweep of Furman last Saturday, the Bears (11-8, 3-4 Southern Conference) boast a 5-1 record at Hawkins Arena and will look to improve upon the impressive mark in Tuesday's SoCon match. However, the Bulldogs (8-15, 1-6 SoCon) will arrive in Macon with uncommon late-season momentum, having just won their first SoCon match since 2011 on Sunday in a dramatic five-set thriller over Furman. It also marked The Citadel's first-ever victory over the Paladins.

In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, all Mercer players will be donning "Dig Pink" jerseys for the contest. Mercer currently sits in a tie for sixth place in the SoCon with nine matches left in the regular season.

TUESDAY'S MATCHUP
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 18 | 6 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (11-8, 3-4 SoCon) vs. The Citadel (8-15, 1-6 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Georgia | Hawkins Arena
Broadcast: ESPN3 | Watch ESPN
Broadcast Talent: Todd Wilson (play-by-play); Al Kessler (analyst); Kristin Banks (sideline)
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerBearsVB
Promotion: First 150 Mercer students will receive a free smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Café

SERIES HISTORY
Mercer is a perfect 6-0 against The Citadel dating back to the two programs' first meeting in 2010. The Bears opening SoCon play this year with a 3-1 victory in Charleston, South Carolina and hit .259 against the Bulldogs. Tori Penrod totaled 20 digs, while Claire Waliczek notched her third double-double with 27 assists and 12 digs.

NOTABLES

Mercer is 6-4 in its last 10 matches overall and 10-5 in its last 15 matches played at Hawkins Arena, dating back to last season.
The Bears got back on track offensively with a team hitting percentage of .267 against Furman and are tied with Samford for second in the SoCon in the category with a .214 overall mark.
Mercer is one of four conference teams to have at least 150 total blocks this season. The Bears have had five matches with 10 or more blocks.
Senior libero Tori Penrod continues to rank among conference and national leaders in the digs category. Her 378 total digs and 5.04 digs per set average both rank second in the SoCon and 40th and 29th, respectively, on the national leaderboard.
Mercer's kills leader, Morgan MacGilvary, has 11 straight matches of at least 12 kills. She ranks ninth among SoCon players in hitting percentage (.275) and sixth in kills per set (3.24).
Claire Waliczek owns six double-doubles this season, the most of any Bear. She notched 15 assists and 12 digs last Saturday against Furman.

SCOUTING THE CITADEL
The Bulldogs are riding high off of their first league win since 2011, but have struggled overall through seven matches in SoCon play. In six losses to conference foes, The Citadel has yet to record more than one set win in a single match, including two straight-set defeats at Western Carolina and Samford.

Moriah Smith continues to be the focal point of The Citadel's offense, leading all SoCon players with 333 total kills and ranking second with an average of 3.92 kills per set. Defensively, the Bulldogs join Mercer at the bottom of the SoCon by allowing opponents to hit a combined .214.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Morgan MacGilvary

Tori Penrod

Claire Waliczek

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