Volleyball Drops Season Opener to Campbell

Friday, August 26

Charlotte, N.C.

10 AM

Mercer University

0-1

Campbell

1-0

Mercer

Campbell

8/26/2016 1:44:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Mercer falls, 3-1, despite third-set win

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Despite claiming a third-set victory, the Mercer University volleyball team was handed a season-opening 3-1 loss to Campbell at the Charlotte Invite on Friday morning.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bears got off to a sluggish start in Charlotte, dropping the first two sets 25-17 and 25-16. Campbell jumped ahead 8-0 in the first set and led by as many as 12 points. Mercer won eight of the last 11 points in the first set, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.

The Orange and Black rebounded to keep the match alive by claiming the third set, 25-22, thanks to a late four-point run to give it a 22-19 lead. Junior opposite hitters Emily Krogman and Morgan MacGilvary had four kills apiece in the set.

Campbell responded in the fourth set to put the match away though, downing the Bears 25-14 to seal the victory.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Krogman was heavily involved in the Bears' game plan Friday morning, recording a double-double of 12 kills and 12 digs. Her kills total was a team-high, ranking only behind Campbell's Loni Kruen (15). Krogman also added a service ace, one of two for Mercer in the match.

NOTABLES

Mercer won the blocks battle, totaling 8.0 team blocks to Campbell's 7.0. Sophomore outside hitter Heather Swann and sophomore middle blocker Gabbi Meyering led the way with four individual blocks each, while fellow sophomore middle blocker Paige Alsten added three.
Swann's four blocks against the Fighting Camels were a career-high.
Senior libero Tori Penrod paced the Bears with 23 digs over the four-set match.
Redshirt junior setter Hannah Noon led Mercer with 16 assists, complimented by junior setter Claire Waliczek's 13.
The Bears are now 6-7 in season-opening tournament matches since head coach Damian Elder took the helm.

COACH ELDER'S TAKE
"We played pretty well, overall," Elder said. "The difference was Campbell's defense against a couple of our experienced attackers. We are going to need more kills if we want to compete for the tournament championship."

RECORDS UPDATE
The season-opening loss leaves Mercer with a 0-1 overall record heading into the rest of the weekend at the Charlotte Invite. Campbell moves to 1-0.

UP NEXT
Mercer takes on host Charlotte at 7 p.m. Friday at Halton Arena in its second match of the Charlotte Invite. To watch the match live, click here, or follow along via live stats.

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.