Mercer Drops Road Match at UNCG

Friday, September 29

Greensboro, N.C.

6 p.m. ET

Mercer University

5-9, 1-2SoCon

UNCG

9-6, 2-1SoCon

Mercer

UNCG

Morgan MacGilvary at 2016 SoCon Championships

Photo by: Southern Conference

9/29/2017 10:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Mary Bess Skinner

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Mercer came up short in its first road Southern Conference match of the season, falling to UNCG 3-1 (23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-14) on Friday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 (23-25) | Mercer started the match on a high note against the Spartans after Morgan MacGilvary (two kills) and Emilee Wissmach (service ace) finished a 9-3 opening run. The Bears dominated for the majority of the set, however, the Spartans fought back and overcame a nine-point deficit with a 12-2 run at the end of the set.

Set 2 (22-25) |The Bears started the second set with a kill by Paige Alsten and a service ace by Emily Krogman. After a 6-2 spurt by the Spartans, the Bears trailed for the remainder of the set. A kill by Danielle Faust sparked a 5-0 run at the end of the set, but it was not enough to push the Bears to the win.

Set 3 (25-18) |The third set saw Mercer find the offensive rhythm it needed to push past UNCG. Alsten added another kill for the night to keep the Bears in the lead for the remainder of the set. A pair of kills by Faust and Claire Waliczek would finalize the set win for Mercer.

Set 4 (14-25) | UNCG led early and closed the match on a six-point run in the fourth set. A four-point run by Mercer that included two kills from MacGilvary pulled the Bears within three points (11-14), but it was not enough.

NOTABLES

Paige Alsten hit for .800 in the first set and led the Bears in overall hitting percentage (.320).
Alsten led Mercer in total blocks (7).
Claire Waliczek added 36 assists for the Bears.
Morgan MacGilvary added a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs.
Emily Krogman tied MacGilvary with most digs for the Bears (15).
Mercer had a season-high of 73 digs in the match.

COACH SCHROEDER'S TAKE
"I don't think we got UNCG's best tonight but we couldn't quite make them pay for it," said head coach Derek Schroeder. "We made them do the things we wanted them to do but just couldn't make enough plays on the road."

RECORD UPDATE

Mercer: 5-9, 1-2 Southern Conference
UNCG: 9-6, 2-1 Southern Conference

UP NEXT
Mercer will continue their weekend of travel to Cullowhee, N.C., where it will face Western Carolina in further SoCon play. The match will start at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30.

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.