Volleyball Steamrolls Chattanooga In Road Finale

Thursday, November 9

Chattanooga, Tenn.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

15-11,11-4SoCon

Chattanooga

18-12,6-9SoCon

Mercer

Chattanooga

Volleyball Steamrolls Chattanooga In Road Finale

11/9/2023 8:29:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Mercer volleyball team hit better than .250 at the net and got monster offensive performances from both Skyler Bumpers and Kylee Quigley on the way to a 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21) victory at Chattanooga on Thursday evening in Maclellan Gym.

It was the 13^th win in the last 17 outings for the Bears (15-11, 11-4 SoCon) who closed out the road portion of their regular season schedule with their seventh victory away from Macon in 2023. Chattanooga (18-12, 6-9) has now dropped 10 of its last 11 matchups in the series with the Orange & Black, including each of the last four contests.

Skyler Bumpers hit an eye-popping .609 with 16 kills on the evening, while Quigley turned in 21 kills – the fifth time in the last six outings she has crossed the 20-kill plateau. Kiera McCarles registered career-bests in both assists (59) and digs (28), as did Abbey Havrilla with a career-high 33 digs.

MATCH SUMMARY
FINAL SCORE	Mercer 3, Chattanooga 1 (25-22, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21)
RECORDS	Mercer 15-11 (11-4 SoCon); Chattanooga 18-12 (6-9 SoCon)
ARENA	Chattanooga, Tenn. (Maclellan Gym)

MATCH REPLAY
SET 1 I 25-22	Chattanooga hit better than .400 at the net on the way to building a 19-11 lead and forcing Mercer's second timeout of the opening set. The timeout snapped the hibernation mode for the Bears who responded by tacking up 14 of the sets final 17 points, including Aliyah Waldon's service ace on set point.
SET 2 I 25-19	Mercer kept its momentum going in the second set and broke a 5-5 tie by scoring five of the next six points to rattle the Mocs and force an unplanned timeout. The Mocs pulled to within a lone point, 15-14, on a kill from Halle Olson, but the Bears captured six of the set's final eight points to close it out and claim a big match advantage.
SET 3 I 25-27	Mercer tallied 19 kills and a pair of service aces in the third set, but were unable to offset 10 attack errors that inevitably allowed Chattanooga back into the match. The Mocs rallied all the way back from a late 22-17 deficit and, despite squandering their first set point opportunity, threw up three-straight points to cut their set deficit in half.
SET 4 I 25-21	The Bears hit .209 at the net in what would turn out to be the fourth and final set of the evening. Mercer broke a 9-9 tie by taking seven of the next eight points and building a comfortable lead, and then hit cruise control after that. The hosts fought off an initial match point via an attack error by MU, but Kylee Quigley answered the call moments later on a kill to the near side.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
KILLS	Kylee Quigley (21), Skyler Bumpers (16), Gia Padilla (14)
ASSISTS	Kiera McCarles (59), Abbey Havrilla (6), Skyler Bumpers (2)
DIGS	Abbey Havrilla (17), Gia Padilla (13), Kiera McCarles (12), Aliyah Waldon (8)
BLOCKS	Mykole Morgan (5), Gia Padilla (3), Kylee Quigley (2)
SERVICE ACES	Abbey Havrilla (33), Kiera McCarles (28), Aliyah Waldon (22)

UP NEXT
The Bears will close out Homecoming Week on Saturday when they take on Southern Conference rival Samford in the regular season finale for both sides. First service is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Hawkins Arena and admission is free.

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