Bears Spoil Spartans Streak

Saturday, October 2

Greensboro, N.C.

5:00 PM

Mercer University

7-8,3-1SoCon

UNCG

14-3,3-1SoCon

Mercer

UNC Greensboro

10/2/2021 9:20:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Mercer fights from down two

By: Nicole Dennis

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Down two sets, the Bears rally to defeat the number one ranked UNC Greensboro, 3-2. "Fun match to be a part of and battle a very good team," said Head Coach Dex Schroeder. "UNCG came out and made us uncomfortable early and it was great to see our heart and our perseverance to find a win. Megan really led us this weekend on the defensive side." The Bears improve to 3-1 within the conference.

MERCER VS. UNC Greensboro

Set One (25-18) | The teams traded a few points in the beginning of set one before a 6-0 run from the Spartans put them up by five, 7-2. A kill from Rayanne de Oliveira followed by service ace from Agnieska Paskevic would help keep the Bears within two, 9-11. Another run of five from the Spartans extended their lead back to seven, 16-9. de Oliveira helped the Bears score their next eight points with two kills and two block assists but the Spartans efforts would surpass hers, winning the set 25-18.

Set Two (25-20) | An early 3-0 run from the Spartans would put them up by three, following a tie at two, 5-3. After a few points were traded, another run of three from the Spartans extended their lead to six, 10-4. A kill from de Oliveira, a service ace from Annie Karle, and a block from de Oliveira minimized the Bears trail to three, 13-10. Help from Howell (a kill and block assist) would make it a two-point game, 14-12. Immediately after the Spartans would score four unanswered points keeping their lead, 18-12. A 3-0 run from the Bears which included kills from Howell and Karle and a service ace from Megan Smith would put the game deficit back at three, 19-16. The next two Mercer points would be kills from de Oliveira before a 3-0 run from the Spartans gave them a lead of five, 23-18. Taylor Lynch and de Oliveira would record two kills before the Spartans closed the set on attack errors, winning 25-20.

Set Three (25-19) | The third set would start with three unanswered Mercer points which included a kill from Lynch and Karle, 3-0. A Spartans run of three would tie the game at four before the teams traded several points. The Bears solidified their lead during three separate runs of two which included a kill of Emma Jose and Howell (2), and a block from Karle and de Oliveira, 19-14. A final scoring run of four, with kills from Brittany Major and Howell and a service ace from de Oliveira would give the Bears set three.

Set Four (25-16) | An early run of four, with two aces from de Oliveira, would give the Bears a three-point lead, 5-2. A Spartan run of four would tie the game at seven. The Bears and the Spartans battled back and forth before a kill from Lynch and an ace by de Oliveira gave the Bears a lead of three, 14-11. Back-to-back kills from Major allowed the Bears to leas by four, 16-12. The Spartans would score three straight, putting them within one, 16-15. A run of four with a block by de Oliveira and Paskevic and a kill from Karle would put the Bears back up by five, 22-16. A final run of three would give the fourth set to the Bears, 25-17.

Set Five (15-10) | A service ace from Paskevic would start set five. Trades points would keep the game close before a 4-0 run with blocks from Paskevic, Howell, Karle, and de Oliveira and a kill from Karle would put the Bears up by four, 11-7. The Spartans would score three straight but de Oliveira and Karle would answer offensively and defensively recording a kill each and a block together. The set would end in the same fashion it started, a service ace from Paskevic.

NOTABLES

Rayanne de Oliveira lead the team in kills (14), aces (4), and blocks (9).
Annie Karle registered a double-double for the second night in a row (13 kills, 10 digs)
Agnieska Paskevic led in assists (51), Megan Smith in digs (21)

The Bears will face ETSU on Friday, October 8^th at 6:00 P.M.

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