Karle’s Career Night Leads Bears Past Paladins

Sunday, March 28

Greenville, SC

2 p.m.

Mercer University

13-7, 12-3SoCon

Furman

5-10, 5-10SoCon

Mercer

Furman

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

Karle’s Career Night Leads Bears Past Paladins

3/28/2021 4:31:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Jesika Moore

GREENEVILLE, S.C. – Annie Karle's 25 kills led the Bears to a 3-1 win over the Furman Paladins on Sunday afternoon. Her 25 kills sets a new career record for the Flanders, N.J., native

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One (16-25) | The Bears ad Paladins tied early in the first set at five points each. Annie Karle led with two points during the first five. The Paladins would go on a 11-4 run to take a 16-9 lead. Each team would trade points back and forth. Brittany Major, Malia Randolph, Jaida Howell, and Karle scored for the Black and Orange. Furman would score the next four points to take set one.

Set Two (28-26) | Mercer took the early 8-6 lead behind Annie Karle's and Rayanne de Oliveira's multiple kills. The Bears would only score three of the next nine points to fall behind Furman by one point. Taylor Lynch's kill would tie the set at 12 each. Mercer would go on a 5-2 run to take a 17-14 lead. Furman would retaliate to take an 18-17 lead. The Bears would be the first to 20 off a kill from Major and an ace from de Oliveira. Both squads would be tied again at 24. Mercer would take the lead off a service ace from Agnieska Paskevic. Each team kept trading points back and forth but Mercer would get two straight points to take the set.

Set Three (25-22) | Mercer was off to a hot start, taking an early 10-6 lead over Furman. Junior Annie Karle scored five of the 10 points for the Bears. The Paladins would score four straight to make it a one point set for the Bears. The Bears would score five of the next six points to take a five point lead. Furman would fight their way back to tie the game at 19. The Bears would be the first team to 20 off an error by the Paladins. Furman tied the set at 20. The Bears would go on to take the set off a block from Jaida Howell.

Set Four (9-25) | The Bears fell behind early in the fourth set with Furman taking a 7-2 lead. Annie Karle would score back two straight to cut the Paladins lead to three. Mercer clawed their way back and tie the set a 10 behind Brittany Major and Jaida Howell. Both squads would split the next six points to tie the set up at 13. Mercer would go on a 5-1 run to take a three point lead. Annie Karle started and ended the run. Furman scored a few more points to bring the set to 19 each. Mercer was the first to 20 with an error from the Paladins. Both squads would trade points but the Bears scored three of the last four to take the set and match.

DEX QUOTE
"Furman is a really good team and they came out to play today. I think we willed ourselves to a win which is a great step to where we want to go. That was a tough match but I am very proud at how we handled ourselves."

NOTABLES

Annie Karle set a new career record with 25 kills against the Paladins. Her previous record was 20.
Jaida Howell was the only other Bear with double digit kills. She had 14 on the match.
Three Bears had double-digit digs. Megan Smith led with 15, followed by Brittany Major with 13, and Lexi Uhrhan with 10.
Malia Randolph and Agnieska Paskevic each recorded 20+ assists. Randolph led with 23 while Paskevic had 21.
Four Bears served up aces against the Paladins. Megan Smith led with two. Annie Karle, Rayanne de Oliveira, and Agnieska Paskevic each had one.

UP NEXT
Mercer will close out their regular season tomorrow at 6 p.m. against the Furman Paladins in Alley Gymnasium.

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.