Mercer Travels to Florida for UNF Invitational

Friday, September 6

Jacksonville, Fla.

12:30 p.m.

Mercer University

Wake Forest

Photo by: Ava Johnson

Mercer Travels to Florida for UNF Invitational

9/5/2019 10:11:00 AM | Volleyball

Live Stats

live.mercer.edu Mercer Travels to Florida for UNF Invitational

By: Jesika Moore

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Volleyball team will head down to Jacksonville, Florida to compete in the University of North Florida Invitational this Friday and Saturday at UNF Arena.

Mercer will battle against Wake Forest Friday at 12:30 p.m., then later take on ECU at 4:30 p.m. The Bears will end the weekend with a match against North Florida Saturday at 2 p.m.

FRIDAY VS. WAKE FOREST
Date | Time: Sept 6 | 12:30 p.m.
Location: Jacksonville, Fla. | UNF Arena
Follow Along: UNFOspreys.com/LiveStats

FRIDAY VS. ECU
Date | Time: Sept 6 | 4:30 p.m.
Location: Jacksonville, Fla. | UNF Arena
Follow Along: UNFOspreys.com/LiveStats

SATURDAY VS. UNF
Date |Time: Sept 7 | 2 p.m.
Location: Jacksonville, Fla. | UNF Arena
Follow Along: UNFOspreys.com/LiveStats
Watch: UNFOspreys.com/Watch

NOTABLES

Sophomore Annie Karle leads the SoCon in service aces with nine and is second in hitting percentage with .414%; Mercer also leads those categories overall in the SoCon.
Mercer has six players- Annie Karle, Brittany Major, Roberta Todd, Jaida Howell, Emilee Wissmach, and Nya Steele- on the SoCon Individual Leaders board in five categories.
Jaida Howell's .352% hitting average ranks fifth in the SoCon.
Overall, in the SoCon, Brittany Major ranks third in kills and sixth in hitting percentage.
Roberta Todd is on three SoCon Leader boards- tied for fourth in service aces (.50 per set), tied for fifth in kills (3.33 per set), and ninth in hitting percentage (.267).
Junior Emilee Wissmach is tied with Todd in service aces and tenth in digs with 3.21 per set.
Nya Steele, with 5.71 per set average, ranks seventh on the assists board in the SoCon.

SCOUTING THE DEACONS
Wake Forest is coming off a three-match sweep at the Spartan-Deacon Classic where they played Presbyterian, North Carolina Central, and UNCG. They finished the 2018 season 10-20 overall, 5-13 in the ACC. The Deacons and Bears have only met once in program history, back on Sept 14, 1996, the Deacons taking the match in three straight sets. Wake Forest welcomes back five starters. Randi Smart leads the Deacons as interim head coach after joining the team in 2017.

SCOUTING THE PIRATES
The Pirates are led by head coach Julie Torbett, who enters her seventh season with East Carolina. ECU is coming off a pair of wins against George Mason and Providence on Sunday where Bri Wood led the Pirates with 34 kills. ECU has met the Bears three times and leads the series 2-1; the last time they met was back in 2004, the Pirates taking the match 3-1.

SCOUTING THE OSPREYS
The Ospreys finished the 2018 season 11-22 under head coach Kristen Wright. She enters her second year as head coach with ten returning players, two of which are starters. North Florida enters the 2019 season ranked eighth in the ASUN. They are coming off a 0-3 loss against Duquesne at the UNC- Wilmington Invitational, where they went 1-2. Redshirt junior Gabby O'Connell leads the Ospreys with 30 kills; behind her is Taryn Griffey with 28.

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.