Mercer to Battle Chattanooga, ETSU at Home

Friday, November 3

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

Chattanooga

Photo by: Marvin Gentry

11/2/2017 9:41:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Mary Bess Skinner

MACON, Ga. – Mercer will continue its five-match home stretch by welcoming a pair of Southern Conference foes to Hawkins Arena this weekend on Friday and Saturday.

The Bears (8-17, 2-10 SoCon) will face Chattanooga at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3. A quick turnaround will have Mercer hosting ETSU at noon on Saturday, Nov. 4, which will serve as Senior Day.

FRIDAY VS. CHATTANOOGA
Date/Time: Nov. 3 | 6 p.m.
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Follow Along: mercerbears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerBearsVB

SATURDAY VS. ETSU
Date/Time: Nov. 4 | 12 p.m. (noon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Follow Along: mercerbears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerBearsVB

SERIES HISTORY | LAST MEETING
Mercer trails ETSU, 17-5, and Chattanooga, 17-9, in their respective all-time series. The Bears did not have luck against the Bucs and Mocs earlier this season, falling in straight sets to both teams on the road.

THANK YOU, SENIORS!
Mercer will honor its five-member senior class Saturday prior to first serve against ETSU. Emily Krogman, Claire Waliczek, Morgan MacGilvary, Bailey Noon and Gabbi Meyering will be recognized for their contributions and leadership to the volleyball program over the last four years.

NOTABLES

Mercer ranks second in the SoCon in hitting percentage (.214) and is third in service aces per set (1.32).
Paige Alsten leads the Bears in hitting percentage (.344) and ranks second in the SoCon. Alsten recorded a season-high 23 kills against Western Carolina last Friday.
Claire Waliczek tops the Bears in assists (764) and ranks fourth in the SoCon with 9.43 assists per set. She recently moved into the fourth place all-time at Mercer for career assists.
Emily Krogman ranks fourth in the SoCon for service aces per set (0.37).
Freshman setter Maddie Nunley has earned significant playing time of late, registering career-highs against Western Carolina last week (49 assists, five kills).
Sarah Stewart also had a career-high against Western Carolina, marking 11 kills.

SCOUTING CHATTANOOGA
Chattanooga (13-13, 6-6 SoCon) is coming off a 3-2 home win over The Citadel last Saturday. Four Mocs finished that match with double-digit kills, including Ally Ford (19), Dani Szczepanski (14), Emily Plumlee (13) and Miranda Elpers (12). Ford ranks third in the SoCon for kills per set (4.04). Senior setters, Lauren Greenspoon and Madison Bergren, notched 30 and 29 assists, respectively, against the Bulldogs.

Megan Kaufman is the SoCon leader in digs (537) as well. Chattanooga concludes its weekend road trip at Samford on Saturday following its match in Macon against the Bears.

SCOUTING ETSU
ETSU (13-10, 9-3 SoCon) is in sole possession of second place in the SoCon following an impressive 3-0 sweep of then-undefeated conference leader Furman last Saturday. The loss dropped Furman to 10-1 in the SoCon. Rylee Milhorn led ETSU with 14 kills in the win. She ranks second in the SoCon in service aces per set (0.38).Marija Popovic averages 4.69 digs per set, second-best in the SoCon. ETSU will face Samford on Friday before traveling to Macon for the noon match on Saturday.

Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Volleyball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerBearsVB (Twitter), MercerUniversityVolleyball (Facebook) and @mercervolleyball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.