Bears Defeats Catamounts In Thrilling Five Set Match to Advance to the Championship

Friday, April 2

Birmingham, Ala.

7:30 (ET)

Mercer University

15-7,15-4SoCon

Western Carolina

11-8,11-6SoCon

Western Caro.

Mercer

Photo by: Todd Drexler

Bears Defeats Catamounts In Thrilling Five Set Match to Advance to the Championship

4/2/2021 11:49:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Mercer heads to the programs first championship match.

By: Jesika Moore

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Mercer Bears are heading to the programs first conference championship after defeating the No. 3 Western Carolina Catamounts in five sets on Friday night in the Pete Hanna Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One (25-18) | The Bears came out of the gates on fire! The Bears took a dominant 13-6 lead. Rayanne de Oliveira led the team scoring three of the Bears 13 points. She had a kill and back-to-back service aces. From there, the Black and Orange continued to dominate. Mercer went on a 6-2 run to put them at set point. Western Carolina went on a 4-0 run, but Brittany Major closed out set one with a kill from Agnieska Paskevic.

Set Two (25-20) | Mercer would start the second set just like the first, taking a 9-4 lead. Jaida Howell led the team with three points, one being a solo block. Western Carolina fought back and took an 11-9 lead, their first lead of the match. The Bears didn't stay down long. A block from Rayanne de Oliveira and a kill from Brittany Major would tie the set again. Western Carolina tied it up again but Mercer score two straight to take a two point lead and never looked back. Malia Randolph would start a 5-0 run for the Black and Orange that would put them five points from taking a two set lead. The Catamounts got as close as two points but Annie Karle, Megan Smith, and Rayanne de Oliveira would end the set for Mercer.

Set Three (23-25) | The Bears went down early with Western Carolina taking a 10-5 lead. A kill from Annie Karle would start an 8-3 run to tie the set at 13. Along with Karle, Brittany Major, Rayanne de Oliveira, and Taylor Lynch would score during the run. Western went on their own run to take a 18-14 lead. An attack error from the Catamounts and a kill from Taylor Lynch would cut the deficit to two. Both squads would trade points but Western Carolina would take set three.

Set Four (19-25) | Mercer and Western Carolina started off strong with Mercer leading 8-7. The Catamounts would go on a 7-2 run to make the score 15-9. The Bears closed the gap to four with a kill and an ace from Brittany Major and a block from Jaida Howell. Mercer and Western Carolina traded points to end the set again. The Catamounts would take the set to force a fifth set.

Set Five (15-11) | The Black and Orange jumped out to a quick 3-0 start behind kills from Annie Karle and Rayanne de Oliveira. Western Carolina fought back to make it a one point lead but Brittany Major and Jaida Howell led the Bears to a 3-0 run to double the score. The Catamounts tried to keep up with Mercer but never got closer than three points. Jaida Howell would score the final point to send the Bears to their first conference championship in program history.

DEX QUOTE
"I thought that was a great team effort. Western presents a lot of challenges for us because of their style of play. We did a nice job with a defensive adjustment in our scout and made them play more our style just barely enough to get a win."

"As firsts go, that is a pretty exciting semifinal win. We hope there is enough gas in the tank for maybe one more first in program history tomorrow!"

NOTABLES

This is the first time in program history that Mercer will be playing for a conference championship.
Annie Karle registered her 12^th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 24 digs. Brittany Major registered her fourth with 15 kills and 10 digs.
Four Bears had double digit kills in the match. Annie Karle led with 16, followed by Brittany Major (15), Taylor Lynch (14), and Jaida Howell (11).
Four Bears also had double digit digs. Annie Karle set a career high 24 digs. Megan Smith followed with 23, Lexi Uhrhan with 11, and Brittany Major with 10.
Jaida Howell set a career high with four solo blocks on the match. She led the team with seven total.
Agnieska Paskevic led the team with 33 assists while Malia Randolph had 21.

UP NEXT
The No. 2 Mercer Bears will go head to head with hosts, the No. 1 Samford Bulldogs to see who will be crowned the 2021 Southern Conference Champions tomorrow at 5 p.m. (ET) in the Pete Hanna Center.

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.