No. 2 Bears Begin ASUN Title Quest Saturday

Saturday, April 22

DeLand, Fla.

11 a.m. ET

Mercer University

FGCU

Morgan MacGilvary at 2016 ASUN Championships

4/21/2017 9:18:00 AM | Beach Volleyball

ASUN Tournament Central Tournament Central ESPN3 Quarterfinals Live Stats Quarterfinals Video Live Stats

Mercer heads to Sunshine State in search of first conference title

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

MACON, Ga. – Mercer's path to an ASUN Conference Tournament title begins at 11 a.m. Saturday against No. 3 seed FGCU at the Cooper Beach Volleyball Courts in DeLand, Florida.

The No. 2 Bears (14-10, 7-3 ASUN) enter the quarterfinals round with their highest postseason seeding ever after a record-breaking regular season that ended with them receiving votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-15 poll.

Two of Mercer's 14 regular-season wins came against FGCU (13-7, 6-4) – both 3-2 affairs – on April 7-8 in DeLand. A win in the quarterfinals will vault Mercer into a semifinal meeting with No. 1 Stetson or No. 4 UNF/No. 5 Jacksonville at 9 a.m. Sunday. A loss to FGCU would drop Mercer to a loser's bracket match at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The tournament is a double-elimination bracket with a single-elimination championship final. Every match will be streamed live on ESPN3 with live stats available.

ASUN TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
Teams (Records): No. 2 Mercer (14-10, 7-3) vs. No. 3 FGCU (13-6, 6-4)
Date/Time (Quarterfinal Match): Saturday, April 22 | 11 a.m.
Location: Cooper Beach Volleyball Courts | DeLand, Florida
Twitter Updates: @MercerBearsVB
Links: Live Stats | ESPN3
ASUN Tournament Central: ASUNSports.org

BEAR BITS

Mercer is 1-2 against FGCU in three ASUN Tournament meetings, most recently defeating the Eagles 5-0 in the 2014 tournament's opening round.
Mercer's two wins over FGCU in the regular season were its first against the Eagles since March 2015.
This is first time in program history Mercer has received votes in the AVCA Top-15 national poll.
Tori Penrod, Emma Peel, Sophie Peel and Danielle Faust were named to the ASUN All-Academic Team Thursday afternoon.
Mercer's best finish in the ASUN Tournament was runner-up to Stetson in 2015. The Bears are 4-3 in the ASUN Tournament since 2015.
Faust and partner Claire Waliczek finished the regular season with a team-best 7-3 ASUN record and take a 15-9 overall mark into the tournament.
Penrod and partner Emily Krogman will lead the way with their 16-8 (6-4) record at the No. 1 seed. Both were 2016 ASUN All-Tournament selections.

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.