Howell’s Career Night Pushes Bears to Fifth Straight Win

Monday, February 15

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

6-5,6-2SoCon

The Citadel

3-8,2-6SoCon

The Citadel

Mercer

Howell’s Career Night Pushes Bears to Fifth Straight Win

2/15/2021 9:54:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Mercer’s 5-1 conference start is the best in Mercer history

By: Jesika Moore

MACON, GA. – Sophomore Jaida Howell's 20 kills led the Bears to their fifth straight win over The Citadel Monday night. The Bears took the match 3-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One (20-25) | The Bears jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead behind Kills from Brittany Major and Annie Karle. Mercer and The Citadel each scored four points, giving the Bears a 7-4 lead. The Bulldogs would go on a 9-3 run to take an 18-14 lead. Rayanne de Oliveira and Karle would each record a kill but The Citadel would take the first set.

Set Two (25-13) | The Bears came out in the second set ready to redeem themselves. Mercer would take nine of the first 14 points behind kills from Jaida Howell, Malia Randolph, and Rayanne de Oliviera. Brittany Major would start another run for the Black and Orange, this one would give the Bears a 22-11 lead. The Bulldogs would try to come back but the Bears took the set, 25-13.

Set Three (25-17) | It was a slow start for Mercer, falling behind 0-4. After a kill from Howell, the Bears would score eight straight points. Lexi Uhrhan would serve up two aces during the run. After trading a few points back and forth, Mercer would go on a 6-2 run to make the score 22-11. The Citadel would score five straight points to cut the Bears lead to six, but, kills from de Oliviera and Karle would end the set and give Mercer a 2-1 set lead.

Set Four (27-25) | Mercer and The Citadel played the fourth set like it was their last. The largest margin during the set was four points. Brittany Major scored the Bears first point with an assist from Agnieska Paskevic. Mercer would take a three point lead after going on a 4-1 run behind kills from Rayanne de Oliveira and Jaida Howell. The Bulldogs would retaliate and score six to take a 23-19 lead. With The Citadel on the verge of forcing a fifth, Lexi Uhrhan came in to serve and started a 5-0 run by the Bears. Taylor Lynch, Karle, and Howell would each get a kill and would put Mercer within one. The Citadel would score one to tie the set at 24. Jaida Howell's 20^th kill of the match would give Mercer the one point lead. After another point from the Bulldogs, Annie Karle would go back-to-back to end the match.

DEX QUOTE
"Not ery match is going to be easy. The Citadel came in and served the ball very well but we came back and fought. It's important for the girl to face he adversity and rise to the challenge and they did that tonight."

NOTABLES

Jaida Howell set a new career-high 20 kills in the match. She matched her previous career-high in Sunday's match at 14.
Mercer' fifth straight win improves them to a 5-1 start in conference, the best start in Mercer recorded history.
Mercer had three Bears with double-digit kills; Jaida Howell (20), Annie Karle (12), and Rayanne de Oliveira (10).
Malia Randolph led the team with 27 assists, followed by Agnieska Paskevic with 20.
Lexi Uhrhan served up three service aces.
Outside hitter Brittany Major lead the Bears with 16 digs.

UP NEXT
The Bears will have a bye week this week. Mercer's next scheduled match is set for February 28 and March 1 at Chattanooga. The matches are set for 4 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.