Bears Set For a Pair of Road Matches

Thursday, October 1

Charleston, SC

6 p.m.

Mercer University

The Citadel

Photo by: Alex Keller

9/30/2020 1:41:00 PM | Volleyball

Mercer will head to The Citadel and Western Kentucky

By: Jesika Moore

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears volleyball squad will head to Charleston, S.C. on Thursday for a 6 p.m. match against The Citadel and will travel to Bowling Green, Ky for a Saturday afternoon contest with Western Kentucky. The contest with the Hilltoppers is scheduled for 1 p.m.

THE CITADEL MATCH DETAILS
Date | Time: Thursday Oct. 1 | 6 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (1-1) at The Citadel (0-3)
Location: Charleston, S.C.
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Watch: ESPN 3
Twitter Updates:@MercerBearsVB

SERIES HISTORY | LAST MEETING
The Bears and Bulldogs have met 14 times. Mercer has won 13 matchups with the latest being a 3-1 victory in Hawkins Arena on Sept. 12. Annie Karle and Brittany Major led the Bears in kills with 14 apiece while Nya Steele had a team-high 36 assists. Rayanne de Oliveira had a match-high five aces in the victory.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Citadel is coming off a 3-0 loss at Virginia on Sept. 18 and currently stands 0-3 overall with losses to Mercer, Virginia Tech and Virginia. This is the last time the two teams will meet this fall. Senior Mellanie King is leading the Bulldogs with 34 kills and 36.5 points. Megan Fuhr paces the squad with 95 assists and an average of 9.5 assists per set. In the loss to the Cavaliers of Virginia, King led The Citadel with 13 kills.

WKU MATCH DETAILS
Date | Time: Saturday Oct. 3 | 1 p.m. ET
Teams: Mercer (1-1) at Western Kentucky (0-0)
Location: Bowling Green, Ky.
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Watch: GO HSSN
Twitter Updates:@MercerBearsVB

SERIES HISTORY | LAST MEETING
Mercer and Western Kentucky have faced off just twice with the last match taking place over 15 years ago, on Sept. 17, 2005. The Bears dropped the match in straight sets to WKU as the Hilltoppers went 31-3 with Power-5 wins over Georgia Tech and Indiana. WKU was undefeated at home and in conference play that season.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
This is the first match for the Hilltopers this fall season. In 2019, Western Kentucky went 32-2 with its only losses came against Louisville, first at the Louisville Invitational and then in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hilltoppers are led by head coach Travis Hudson, who enters his 26^th season at the helm. WKU lost only two seniors and welcome three freshman this season. They bring back junior middle hitter Lauren Matthews who led the team with 470 kills in 2019.

MERCER NOTABLES

All of Mercer's matches in October are on the road. By season's end the Bears will have played 4-of-5 matches away from home.
Mercer ranks second nationally in aces per set (2.22) and fifth in hitting percentage (0.278)
Brittany Major's 34 points and 3.78 points per set are team-highs
Major and Annie Karle both have recorded 29 kills
Nya Steele has been credited with 75 of Mercer's 91 assists on the season

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.