Mercer Ties Program Wins Record with Mid-Week Sweep

Wednesday, March 29

Macon, Ga.

3 PM ET

Mercer University

Coastal Carolina

Mercer Ties Program Wins Record with Mid-Week Sweep

3/29/2017 8:17:00 PM | Beach Volleyball

Match 1 Box Score Match 2 Box Score

The Bears defeat Coastal Carolina twice at Bear Beach

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer tied a program record of 10 wins and remained undefeated in ASUN Conference play with a pair of wins, 3-2 and 5-0, over Coastal Carolina Wednesday afternoon at Bear Beach.

The Bears (10-5, 3-0 ASUN) have won four straight matches – all at Bear Beach – to cap a perfect 4-0 record on their home sand. Coastal Carolina dropped to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

Three Mercer pairings won both matches, including Emma Peel/Sophie Peel in the No. 2 seed, Claire Waliczek/Danielle Faust in the No. 3 seed and Gretja Otten/Jessica Johnson in the No. 4 and 5 seeds. Tied 1-1 after two sets in the first match, Mercer pulled away to clinch the opening 3-2 win with a pair of victories in the No. 5 and 3 seeds. Tori Penrod/Emily Krogman fell in straight sets in the No. 1 seed, which included a wild 31-29 defeat in their first game.

It was all Bears in the second match of the day as each pair cruised to straight-set victories across the board. Wednesday marked the program's first-ever TV broadcast, as the matches aired live on ESPN3.

COASTAL CAROLINA MATCH #1 BREAKDOWN

Natasa Savovic/Tahleia Bishop (COASTAL) def. Tori Penrod/Emily Krogman (MER) 31-29, 21-10
Emma Peel/Sophie Peel (MER) def. Aleksandra Djuric/Katie Davis (COASTAL) 19-21, 21-14, 15-12
Claire Waliczek/Danielle Faust (MER) def. Mika Mierzwa/Autumn Otto (COASTAL) 21-13, 21-10
Sara Boothe/Carla Cahill (COASTAL) def. Demi-Shay Watchorn/Alyssa Kirkman (MER) 20-22, 21-15, 15-13
Gretja Otten/Jessica Johnson (MER) def. Iva Mandic/Shelby Ladewig (COASTAL) 21-14, 21-13
EXT: Abigail Moss/Marina Chavez/Elli Gibson (MER) def. Federico, Kate Federico/Dora Lulic (COASTAL) 21-17, 21-18

COASTAL CAROLINA MATCH #2 BREAKDOWN

Tori Penrod/Emily Krogman (MER) def. Natasa Savovic/Tahleia Bishop (COASTAL) 21-17, 21-19
Emma Peel/Sophie Peel (MER) def. Aleksandra Djuric/Katie Davis (COASTAL) 21-19, 21-16
Claire Waliczek/Danielle Faust (MER) def. Mika Mierzwa/Autumn Otto (COASTAL) 21-11, 21-14
Gretja Otten/Jessica Johnson (MER) def. Sara Boothe/Carla Cahill (COASTAL) 21-18, 21-19
Amber Gibson/Madison Kerr (MER) def. Iva Mandic/Kate Federico (COASTAL) 21-15, 23-21
EXT: Lela McIntosh/Morgan MacGilvary (MER) def. Dora Lulic/Shelby Ladewig (COASTAL) 21-16, 24-22

PAIR OF THE MATCHES
The nod goes to Danielle Faust and Claire Waliczek once again as they won their fourth and fifth straight matches as a pairing to improve to 11-4 overall for the season. The duo defeated Coastal Carolina twice in straight sets at the No. 3 seed Wednesday and is tied with Penrod/Krogman for the most wins (11) on the team.

RECORDS UPDATE

Mercer: 10-5 (3-0 ASUN)
Coastal Carolina: 0-5 (0-2 ASUN)

UP NEXT

Mercer: at UNCW Beach Bash, April 1-2 in Wilmington, N.C. (vs. UNCW, South Carolina, Stevenson and Coastal Carolina)
Coastal Carolina: at UNCW Beach Bash, April 1-2 in Wilmington, N.C. (vs. South Carolina, Stevenson and Mercer)

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.