Mercer Falls to Samford in SoCon Championship

Saturday, April 3

Birmingham, Ala.

5 p.m. (ET)

Mercer University

15-8,15-4SoCon

Samford University

15-3,14-3SoCon

Mercer

Samford

Mercer Falls to Samford in SoCon Championship

4/3/2021 7:47:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Annie Karle registered her 13th double-double.

By: Jesika Moore

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mercer's season of first comes to a heartbreaking end after falling to hosts, Samford Bulldogs, in three sets on Saturday night in the Pete Hanna Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One (18-25) | The Bears jumped out to a 5-2 start behind points from Annie Karle, Brittany Major, Jaida Howell, and Taylor Lynch. Samford went on a run and took a 15-10 lead over the Bears. The Bears and Bulldogs would split the next six points. Three Bulldog errors gave Mercer their points. The Bears tried to come back but Samford took the first set.

Set Two (23-25) | Mercer jumped out to an early 8-6 lead, led by Annie Karle. Samford would score one to put them behind by one. Karle would start an 8-5 run to give the Black and Orange a 16-12 lead. Taylor Lynch and Annie Karle led the team with two kills each during the run. Samford would fight their way back and tie the set at 18 each. Two kills by Karle and a block from Rayanne de Oliveira and Malia Randolph would give the Black and Orange a three point lead. Samford would go on a 7-2 run to take set two.

Set Three (23-25) | The Bears went down 4-7 early in the third set. A kill from Jaida Howell would give Mercer the spark they needed to go on a 6-2 run. Samford responded and took a 17-12 lead. Jaida Howell would score twice to put the Bears down by four. A 4-0 run by the Bears cut the Bulldogs lead to two. The run wouldn't be enough and the Bulldogs would take the match.

DEX QUOTE
"I couldn't quite get them to that extra gear today that we have been finding lately and that's on me. It pains me and I really wish I could have found that for them because they are an incredible group of women. Sometimes you have to go through these growing pains on the journey to be a championship program and we are already looking forward to our next chance."

NOTABLES

Annie Karle finished with 285 kills on the season, averaging 3.28 per set. She had 16 games with double digit kills, including a new career high 25 against Furman.
Jaida Howell had 90.0 blocks in the season. She set a career high four solo blocks in the semifinal match against Western Carolina.
Megan Smith led the team with 319 digs on the season and a reception percentage of .951.
Sophomore Lexi Uhrhan had 24 service aces on the season, the second most. She also totaled 153 digs.
Brittany Major was tied for second with 249 digs with Annie Karle. Major also averaged 2.02 kills per set.
Rayanne de Oliviera led the Bears with 32 service aces. The middle blocker also finished with 75.0 blocks.
Senior Malia Randolph dished out 359 assists this season. She was third on the team with 50.0 blocks. Not only did she dish out assists, she finished with 97 kills.
Taylor Lynch had 140 kills, averaging 1.89 per set. Lynch also had 68 digs and 35.0 blocks.
Agnieska Paskevic finished her first season with the Bears with 370 assists. She also had 124 digs.

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.