Mercer Opens ASUN Tournament against Jacksonville

Saturday, April 21

Deland, Fla.

9 AM

Mercer University

Jacksonville

Photo by: Ian Antley

Mercer Opens ASUN Tournament against Jacksonville

4/20/2018 9:37:00 AM | Beach Volleyball

Bears to battle Dolphins in first round in DeLand, Fla.

By: Mary Bess Skinner

MACON, Ga. – Mercer's path to an ASUN Conference Beach Volleyball Tournament title begins at 9 a.m. Saturday against No. 5 seed Jacksonville at the Cooper Beach Volleyball Courts in DeLand, Florida.

The No. 4 Bears (9-14, 3-7 ASUN) closed the regular season with back-to-back wins against Coastal Carolina on April 11. A win in the opening round will vault Mercer into a second round meeting with No. 1 Stetson at 1 p.m. later that afternoon. A loss to Jacksonville would drop Mercer to a loser's bracket match against No. 2 FGCU/No. 3 North Florida 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.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Bears vs. Dolphins
Date: Saturday, April 21
Time: 9 a.m. ET
Location: Deland, Fla.
Live Stats: gohatters.com/livestats
Watch: gohatters.com/watch
Twitter Updates: @MercerBearsVB

NOTABLES

Mercer is 9-7 all-time against Jacksonville, including a two-match split this season. The Bears dropped a 3-2 match on April 6 before rallying for a 3-2 win the following day (April 7) in Jacksonville.
The Bears have been victorious over Jacksonville in their last three head-to-head matches in ASUN Tournament play dating back to 2015.
Sophie Peel and Jessica Johnson were named to the ASUN All-Academic Team for the second time in their careers on Wednesday.
Mercer's best finish in the ASUN Tournament was runner-up to Stetson in 2015. The Bears are 6-13 overall in the ASUN Tournament since beginning the program in 2012.
Amber Gibson and Gracie Garanich own eight wins as a duo, all coming in at the No. 3 pairing.
Individually, Kylie Keeling leads Mercer with 11 wins this season at the No. 4 and No. 5 pairing with Emilee Wissmach following with nine wins at the No. 5 seed.

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.