Friday, September 7
Macon, Ga.
11 AM
Mercer University
5-4
3
vs
0
Alabama A&M
3-6
1
2
3
F
AAMU
17
20
11
0
MER
25
25
25
3
Team Stats
AAMU
MER
Kills
23
47
Errors
14
13
Attempts
82
99
Hitting %
.110
.343
Points
28.0
60.0
Assists
22
46
Aces
2
8
Blocks
3.0
5.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
S/OPP
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
Photo by: Judy Stapleton
Mercer Earns Fourth Consecutive Win
9/7/2018 8:55:00 PM | Volleyball
Bears defeat Alabama A&M, UT Martin
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Volleyball squad started off the Mercer Bears Classic in the right way, earning a 3-0 sweep over Alabama A&M (25-17, 25-20, 25-11) and a 3-1 triumph (25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22) over UT Martin at Hawkins Arena.
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The Bears (6-4) earned their third consecutive sweep as the Bulldogs fell to 3-6 on the season. The Bears then claimed a 3-1 win over the Skyhawks, dropping UT Martin to 5-4 on the season. Mercer tallied a season-high .343 hitting percentage against Alabama A&M, besting the previous season high of .302 set on Tuesday against Florida A&M.
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HOW IT HAPPENED (ALABAMA A&M)
Set 1 (25-17) | The Bears dominated the first part of the opening frame, registering eight of the match's first nine points. Paige Alsten collected three of her game-high 13 kills in the first nine points to boost Mercer to the seven-point advantage. Mercer held the Bulldogs at bay for the entire set, not allowing Alabama A&M to close the gap any closer than five points. With Mercer leading 22-14, the Bulldogs tallied three unanswered points to close the Bears' lead to just five for the second time in the set. Kills by Alexia Morey, Danielle Faust and a Bulldog attacking error allowed Mercer to claim the final three points of the set for the 25-17 victory.
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Set 2 (25-20) | The second set opened with a 5-1 Alabama A&M rally with three kills by three separate Bulldogs. Mercer rattled off six unanswered points to take the 7-5 advantage following three kills from Alsten and two service aces by Faust. The second frame proved to be a closer contest midway through the set until the Bears stretched a 12-9 lead to 15-9, forcing a Bulldog timeout. Alabama A&M would not go quietly, spoiling three different seven-point Mercer leads, including trimming a 22-15 advantage to just 22-19 to force a Bears' timeout. Mercer cranked out three of the final four points with kills by Faust, Alsten and Maddie Nunley to conclude the set.
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Set 3 (25-11) | Alabama A&M took the early 4-3 advantage over Mercer before the Bears collected four unanswered points for the 7-4 advantage following a kill by Roberta Todd. With Mercer later holding an 8-6 advantage, the Bears earned four unanswered points to stretch their lead to a comfortable 12-6 mark. The Bulldogs trimmed the Mercer lead to five later in the set at 14-9 following a Mercer attacking error. However, the Bears wasted no time in proving their dominance, scoring seven consecutive points behind the service of Megan Smith. The Bears scored four of the final six points in the match, including kills by Alsten and Todd to cap the match off at 25-11 in the final set.
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HOW IT HAPPENED (UT MARTIN)
Set 1 (25-21) | The Bears took a strong 10-3 lead to open the first set, in large part to four kills by Alsten. Mercer stretched its lead to 15-6 before the Skyhawks used a 10-3 spurt to crawl back into the set. Roberta Todd's kill stalled the UT Martin rally and sparked a 7-5 run to end the set, giving Mercer the 25-21 victory.
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Set 2 (21-25) | Neither squad could gain any separation in the second set as neither competitor led by more than two points for the first 36 points of the set. With UT Martin leading 19-17, the Skyhawks tacked on two unanswered points following back-to-back blunders by the Bears. Mercer closed the gap to two (23-21) but could not complete the comeback as Phillips and Mackeviciute registered consecutive kills for the Skyhawks, clinching the 25-21 set.
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Set 3 (25-19) | A 3-0 run led by Todd gave Mercer the early advantage. The Skyhawks tied up the match at nine and eventually claimed their first lead at 13-12. Three consecutive Mercer points turned the momentum back in favor of the Bears. With the set eventually tied at 16 apiece, the Bears ended the frame on a 9-3 run to take the 2-1 overall lead.
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Set 4 (25-22) | Set four began with four lead changes until Maddie Nunley registered a kill to send Mercer ahead 12-11. UT Martin reclaimed the lead at 16-15, until three-straight Major kills put the Bears back up 18-16. The Bears held on to the lead the remainder of the set, finishing the set with two Skyhawk errors.
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NOTABLES
RECORDS UPDATE
NEXT MATCH
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.
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The Bears (6-4) earned their third consecutive sweep as the Bulldogs fell to 3-6 on the season. The Bears then claimed a 3-1 win over the Skyhawks, dropping UT Martin to 5-4 on the season. Mercer tallied a season-high .343 hitting percentage against Alabama A&M, besting the previous season high of .302 set on Tuesday against Florida A&M.
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HOW IT HAPPENED (ALABAMA A&M)
Set 1 (25-17) | The Bears dominated the first part of the opening frame, registering eight of the match's first nine points. Paige Alsten collected three of her game-high 13 kills in the first nine points to boost Mercer to the seven-point advantage. Mercer held the Bulldogs at bay for the entire set, not allowing Alabama A&M to close the gap any closer than five points. With Mercer leading 22-14, the Bulldogs tallied three unanswered points to close the Bears' lead to just five for the second time in the set. Kills by Alexia Morey, Danielle Faust and a Bulldog attacking error allowed Mercer to claim the final three points of the set for the 25-17 victory.
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Set 2 (25-20) | The second set opened with a 5-1 Alabama A&M rally with three kills by three separate Bulldogs. Mercer rattled off six unanswered points to take the 7-5 advantage following three kills from Alsten and two service aces by Faust. The second frame proved to be a closer contest midway through the set until the Bears stretched a 12-9 lead to 15-9, forcing a Bulldog timeout. Alabama A&M would not go quietly, spoiling three different seven-point Mercer leads, including trimming a 22-15 advantage to just 22-19 to force a Bears' timeout. Mercer cranked out three of the final four points with kills by Faust, Alsten and Maddie Nunley to conclude the set.
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Set 3 (25-11) | Alabama A&M took the early 4-3 advantage over Mercer before the Bears collected four unanswered points for the 7-4 advantage following a kill by Roberta Todd. With Mercer later holding an 8-6 advantage, the Bears earned four unanswered points to stretch their lead to a comfortable 12-6 mark. The Bulldogs trimmed the Mercer lead to five later in the set at 14-9 following a Mercer attacking error. However, the Bears wasted no time in proving their dominance, scoring seven consecutive points behind the service of Megan Smith. The Bears scored four of the final six points in the match, including kills by Alsten and Todd to cap the match off at 25-11 in the final set.
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HOW IT HAPPENED (UT MARTIN)
Set 1 (25-21) | The Bears took a strong 10-3 lead to open the first set, in large part to four kills by Alsten. Mercer stretched its lead to 15-6 before the Skyhawks used a 10-3 spurt to crawl back into the set. Roberta Todd's kill stalled the UT Martin rally and sparked a 7-5 run to end the set, giving Mercer the 25-21 victory.
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Set 2 (21-25) | Neither squad could gain any separation in the second set as neither competitor led by more than two points for the first 36 points of the set. With UT Martin leading 19-17, the Skyhawks tacked on two unanswered points following back-to-back blunders by the Bears. Mercer closed the gap to two (23-21) but could not complete the comeback as Phillips and Mackeviciute registered consecutive kills for the Skyhawks, clinching the 25-21 set.
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Set 3 (25-19) | A 3-0 run led by Todd gave Mercer the early advantage. The Skyhawks tied up the match at nine and eventually claimed their first lead at 13-12. Three consecutive Mercer points turned the momentum back in favor of the Bears. With the set eventually tied at 16 apiece, the Bears ended the frame on a 9-3 run to take the 2-1 overall lead.
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Set 4 (25-22) | Set four began with four lead changes until Maddie Nunley registered a kill to send Mercer ahead 12-11. UT Martin reclaimed the lead at 16-15, until three-straight Major kills put the Bears back up 18-16. The Bears held on to the lead the remainder of the set, finishing the set with two Skyhawk errors.
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NOTABLES
- Paige Alsten notched a team-high 17 kills, marking the fourth consecutive match with double-digit kills. Alsten hit over .400 for the third consecutive match, all inside the friendly confines of Hawkins Arena.
- Brittany Major notched a season-high 16 kills against UT Martin. She also added a season-high hitting percentage at .441 only recording one error and a season-high three blocks.
- The Bears hit for a season-high .343 against Alabama A&M holding them to just .110 for a new season low.
- Emilee Wissmach concluded the match against UT Martin with a team-high 21 digs tying her season-high. Maddie Nunley followed closely behind adding 20 digs and Todd added 15- a new season-high for each.
- Nunley collected 85 assists for the day, stretching her season total to 226 on the campaign. The sophomore setter notched a season-high 47 against UT Martin.
- Mercer registered eight service aces against the Bulldogs, the second-most aces on the season. Olivia Sass, Faust and Smith each finished the match with two aces apiece.
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 6-4
- Alabama A&M: 3-6
- UT Martin: 5-4
NEXT MATCH
- Mercer vs. Jacksonville on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. at Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga.
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.
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