Bears Bounce Back

Saturday, October 23

Charleston, S.C.

7:00 P.M.

Mercer University

12-9,8-2SoCon

The Citadel

9-7,5-5SoCon

Mercer

The Citadel

10/23/2021 9:48:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Mercer completes sweep at The Citadel

By: Nicole Dennis

Charleston, S.C. – The Mercer Bears defeat The Citadel Bulldogs in straight sets to improve to 8-2 within the conference. "Good response from us," said head coach Dex Schroeder. "The Citadel is playing very well defensively and ripping the ball so I am glad we were able to go in there and produce. Happy we could make plays and finish those tight sets.

MERCER VS. THE CITADEL

Set One (25-22) | While the Bulldogs would be the first to score, a 4-0 run from the Bears gave them an early three-point lead. This run included a kill by Rayanne de Oliveira as well as a block by de Oliveira assisted by Agnieska Paskevic, 4-1. A few service and attacks errors would allow the Bulldogs to tie the game at six. Points would be traded resulting in seven additional ties before a 4-0 run from the Bulldogs put them in the lead by three, 16-13. A kill by Annie Karle and a block by Paskevic and Jaida Howell would keep the Bears within one before an attack error by the Bulldogs tied the game at 17. There would be four more tie scores before attack errors gave the Bears a lead of two, 23-21. The Bulldogs would score one more time before a block by Paskevic and Howell and a final kill from Karle closed this set in favor of the Bears, 25-22.

Set Two (25-21) | A kill from de Oliveira would get the Bears on the board in the second set. A 4-0 run from the Bears started with a kill from Taylor Lynch followed by a kill from Howell and two from Brittany Major would put the Bears up by three, 6-3. Another run of three with a kill from Howell and a service ace from Megan Smith extended the Bears lead to five, 10-5. The teams would trade runs of three, with the Bears keeping their lead of five, 14-9. At most, the Bears kept their lead at seven before a final run of three allowed the Bulldogs to trail by three, 24-21. A kill from Howell would end their run to finish the set, 25-21.

Set Three (28-26) | A service ace from Paskevic followed by a Bulldog attack error would give the Bears a 2-0 lead in the third set. The set would be tied three times before a 5-0 run by the Bulldogs allowed them to take the lead, 9-4. Back-to-back kills from Karle would keep the Bears within two, 11-9. The Bears would trail until a kill from Karle started a 4-0 run from the Bears. Within this run Karle registered two kills and Smith recorded two service aces, 19-18. The Bulldogs would tie the set and eventually take a two-point lead after a 3-0 run, 22-20. A run of three from the Bears with a block by de Oliveira and Major and a service ace from de Oliveira tied the game at 24. Howell would record two back-to-back kills to give the Bears a one-point lead, 26-25. The Bulldogs would tie the set again at 26 but a kill from Howell and a block by Howell with Paskevic would give the set to Mercer, 28-26.

NOTABLES

Jaida Howell led with 12 kills followed by Rayanne de Oliveira (10) and Annie Karle (9)
Jaida Howell and Agnieska Paskevic tied with four blocks; de Oliveira followed with three
Megan Smith lead with three service aces and recorded 12 digs
Annie Karle lead with 21 digs; Agnieska Paskevic lead with 32 assists

The Bears will face UNCG, October 29^th at 7:00 P.M.

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.