Mercer Goes 3-0 in Home Tournament

Saturday, August 28

Macon, Ga.

2:00 PM

Mercer University

3-0,0-0SoCon

Murray State

2-1,0-0OVC

Murray St.

Mercer

Mercer Goes 3-0 in Home Tournament

Photo by: Mitch Robinson

8/28/2021 7:33:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

The Bears defeated Stetson, New Hampshire, and Murray State in Bears Classic

By: Nicole Dennis

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears volleyball team rallied together to win over Murray State on the last day of the Mercer Bears Classic. The Bears topped the Racers in five sets, 3-2.

The season for the Bears looks bright. Head coach Dex Schroeder said, "I am really happy with this weekend overall. I think there were a lot of situations where we learned a lot about ourselves and what we need to do to be a championship level team. Taylor and Megan were exceptional this weekend. I am very proud of both of them, and I am really excited about this entire team".

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One (25-22) | The Bears were able to keep the score close in the first set with strong offensive play from Brittany Major. Major got Mercer on the scoreboard with a kill followed by a service ace from Lexi Uhrhan. The scoring went back-and-forth before the Bears went on a 4-0 run started with a kill from Major. Back-to-back kills from Major and Taylor Lynch gave the Bears momentum, which allowed Major to close out the set with a service ace. In the first set, Major recorded six kills in eight attempts for a .750 hitting percentage.

Set Two (25-17) | The Bears and Racers traded kills during the start of the second set before the Racers went on multiple runs. A kill from Lynch broke up the Racers' 3-0 run that put them in the lead, but the Racers answered immediately after with an additional 3-0 run. The four kills from Lynch and three from Major wouldn't be enough for the Bears, and the Racers took the second set.

Set Three (27-25) | The back-and-forth match continued in the third set. A 3-0 run from the Bears with kills from Rayanne de Oliveira and Morgan Verheyen put the Bears up by two (12-10) before another Murray State stopped the run. However, a 4-0 Mercer run extended its lead to five, 17-12. Lynch led the charge with a kill followed by a block from Major and Paige Wagers. The run ended with a kill from Verheyen. Errors allowed the Racers to tie the set, but Agnieska Paskevic strung together with five assists, aiding in the last seven Mercer points. Megan Smith recorded nine additional digs in the third set alone, helping the Bears close the set, 27-25.

Set Four (19-25) | The Bears fell behind early in the fourth before kills from Annie Karle and Taylor Lynch closed the gap. Several errors in favor of the Bears tied the game before the teams exchanged kills. The Racers went on a 5-0 run, which ended with blocks from Major, Wagers, and de Oliveira. Karle recorded five kills and five digs, but the Bears could not catch up with the Racers, falling in the fourth set.

Set Five (15-12) | Mercer raced out to a quick lead of 8-3 with three points coming from blocks from de Oliveira and Lynch. Despite the Racers' attempt to make a comeback, Karle answered for the Black & Orange recording three kills. The match point was awarded to the Bears following a service error from Murray State.

NOTABLES

Three Bears were in double-digit kills today. Karle led with 16, followed by Lynch (13) and Major (12).
De Oliveira led the Black & Orange in block assists with five, followed by Lynch, Wagers, and Major who tied with five.
Two Bears had double-digit digs – Smith (19), Karle (10).
Emma Jose registered assist percentage of .375, followed by Paskevic (.357)

ALL TOURNAMENT PLAYERS

Tournament MVP – Mercer's Taylor Lynch

Mercer - Megan Smith
Murray - Becca Fernandez, Brooke Lynn Watts
Stetson - Alejandra Perez
New Hampshire - Wren MaCauley

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.