Bears Split Weekend While Citadel Remains Undefeated

Sunday, October 1

Charleston, S.C.

4 PM

Mercer University

6-9,2-2SoCon

The Citadel

16-0,4-0SoCon

Mercer

The Citadel

Bears Split Weekend While Citadel Remains Undefeated

10/1/2023 6:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

CHARLESTON – After a win on Saturday at Western Carolina, the Bears put up a fight with the undefeated Bulldogs of The Citadel. After staying close but losing the first two sets, Mercer won the next two, forcing a fifth set and falling just short of handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.

The Bears came out ready for a fight in Charleston, taking the top team in the Southern Conference to five sets. No set ever got out of reach, with the greatest deficit being seven points in set one. Abbey Havrilla posted a game-high four service aces, and MyKole Morgan led all players with 2.5 total blocks.

The Bears will be back at home this week to host ETSU on October 6 at 6 p.m.

MATCH SUMMARY
FINAL SCORE	Mercer 2, Citadel 3 (21-25, 26-28, 25-23, 25-22, 11-15)
RECORDS	Mercer 6-9 (2-2 SoCon); Citadel 16-0 (4-0 SoCon)
ARENA	McCalister Fieldhouse (Charleston, S.C.)

MATCH REPLAY
SET 1 I 21-25	Despite facing an undefeated team at home, the Bears would not back down, staying close to start set one but falling to a seven-point deficit later in the set. The team made a small run to close it to three before the Citadel took the win.
SET 2 I 26-28	Like the previous night, after dropping the first set, the Bears came back stronger in set two. While they did not get the win, The Citadel could not pull away by enough and was forced to extra points. The set began back and forth, with Mercer pulling ahead to lead by as much as three until the Citadel tied it up at 19-19. The teams traded points until the end of the set.
SET 3 I 25-23	In set three, the Bears only made one attack error to the Bulldogs' eight, and they posted a better hitting percentage (.294) than their opponents. Despite starting out behind, the Bears fought to catch up and get ahead, taking the lead at 17-16 and keeping that lead to win their first set of the match.
SET 4 I 25-22	In set four, the Bears again posted a better hitting percentage than the Bulldogs, along with three service aces and three blocks. There were several lead changes in the set, but after regaining a lead at 22-21, a kill by Kylee Quigley and a service ace by Skyler Bumpers carried them to force a fifth set.
SET 5 I 11-15	The Bears momentum could not last through set five, reaching multiple ties but never a lead.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
KILLS	Kylee Quigley (16), Mykole Morgan (16), Skyler Bumpers (14)
ASSISTS	Kiera McCarles (23), Jessica Dunn (11), Carley Raleigh (9)
DIGS	Jessica Dunn (13), Gia Padilla (12), Abbey Havrilla (11)
BLOCKS	Mykole Morgan (2.5), Lillian Beardsley (2.0), Skyler Bumpers (1.5), Aliyah Waldon (1.5)
SERVICE ACES	Abbey Havrilla (4), Kylee Quigley (1), Skyler Bumpers (1), Kiera McCarles (1)

UP NEXT
The Bears host ETSU on October 6 at Hawkins Arena in Macon at 6 p.m.

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