Bears Set to Open Tournament with Catamounts

Friday, April 2

Birmingham, Ala.

7:30 (ET)

Mercer University

Western Carolina

Photo by: Kayla Davis

4/1/2021 2:25:00 PM | Volleyball

Mercer will go into the tournament as the number two seed

By: Jesika Moore

Bears Set to Open Tournament with Catamounts
Mercer will go into the tournament as the number two seed

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears will head to Birmingham, Ala. for the 2021 Southern Conference Tournament. The No.2 Mercer Bears will go head to head with the No. 3 Western Carolina Catamounts on Friday at 6:30 (CT)

MATCH DETAILS
Date | Time: Friday, April 2 | 6:30 p.m. (CT)
Teams: Western Carolina (11-7, 11-5) vs. Mercer (14-7, 13-3)
Location: Birmingham, Ala.
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Watch: ESPN+
Twitter Updates:@MercerBearsVB

SERIES HISTORY
This is the third meeting between the two squads this year. The Catamounts took both matches in straight sets in the first two meetings. The last tournament meeting was in 2019 when the No. 6 Bears upset the No. 3 Catamounts in five sets.

SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
Western Carolina is coming off a 3-0 sweep of the UNCG Spartans on Monday. Julia Gardon and Merry Gebel were the lone Catamounts with double-digit kills. Gardon led with 11 and Gebel followed with 10. Destinee Dorsey had 25 digs on the match. Setter Hannah Price dished out 35 assists during the match. Five of Western's players had a service ace on Monday. Merry Gebel lead with two while Julia Gardon, Destinee, Dorsey, Caroline Perret, and Sydney Carlson each had one. Western Carolina was picked fourth in SoCon Preseason Poll.

NOTABLES

With Mercer's 13-3 conference finish, they earn a share of the regular season title. This is the first time in program history that the Bears have been regular season conference champions.
Sophomore Jaida Howell has blocked a total of 81.0 balls this season. She is at the top of the Southern Conference for total blocks. She also ranks 27th in the nation.
In Sunday's match against Furman, outside hitter Annie Karle set a new career high 25 kills. Her previous high was 20 set her freshman year against Western Carolina and again last season against Southern U.
As a team, Mercer is at the top of the SoCon for opponent hitting percentage. The Bears have halted their opponents to a .168 hitting percentage.
Three Bears have 20+ service aces on the season. Rayanne de Oliveira leads with 29 , followed by Lexi Uhrhan with 22 and Brittany Major with 21.

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.