Volleyball Falls To Furman On Final Road Game Of Regular Season

Thursday, November 7

Greenville, S.C.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

21-5,11-2SoCon

Furman

11-11,5-6SoCon

Mercer

Furman

Volleyball Falls To Furman On Final Road Game Of Regular Season

11/7/2024 5:22:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Kaylin Flukey, kaylin.flukey@live.mercer.edu

GREENVILLE - The Mercer volleyball team falls to Furman on Thursday night in their final road game of the regular season. Mercer battled back after being down 2-0 to force a fourth set but it was not enough to defeat the Paladins who thrived off of the home court energy.

Freshman libero MeMe Davis recorded an impressive 37 digs, a season and match-high with Skye Ekes tallying a match-high 16 kills. Gia Padilla registered another double-double on the season consisting of 11 kills and 16 digs. Sophia Henry also put up double-digit kills with 11 and Brooke Phillips added 19 digs on the match. After the loss, Mercer remains in first place in the conference but is now tied with Wofford, both squads have two losses in conference play.

The Bears will finish out the regular season with a three-match home stretch starting this Saturday night as they welcome the Bulldogs of Samford to Macon. Mercer will be hosting Eras Night with Taylor-Swift themed bingo, prizes, friendship bracelets and more. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.

MATCH SUMMARY
FINAL SCORE	Mercer 1, Furman 3 (22-25, 18-25, 25-18, 25-18)
RECORDS	Mercer 21-5, 11-2 SoCon; Furman 11-11, 5-6 SoCon
ARENA	Greenville, S.C. (Alley Gymnasium)

MATCH REPLAY
SET 1 I 22-25	From the first serve of the match, the energy in Alley Gymnasium was effective for the Paladins who came out ready to battle the number one seed. The first half of the match was back and forth between the two teams until Furman started to pull away at the 16-19 mark. The Bears battled back after a Paladin's error at the 22-23 mark, but it was not enough to shut down Furman in set one.
SET 2 I 18-25	Furman carried the momentum from the first set into set two to get off to a 7-4 lead early on. The Bears were never able to rally enough points to come back from the deficit, falling to the Paladins entering a must-win set three.
SET 3 I 25-18	The Bears were not going down without a fight and out hit Furman 19 kills to 10, supported by Davis' 14 digs in the set. It was a back and forth battle until the 14-20 mark when Gia Padilla added a kill to give the Bears a six-point lead and setting them up to take the set-win.
SET 4 \| 18-25	Mercer gained momentum heading into the fourth set but was quickly shut down by Furman's dominant front line on the night. The Bears stayed in the game and took the lead at the 7-6 mark, following a Sammi Bergjans ace and a Skye Ekes kill. A five-point Furman service run came at the right time for the Paladins to put them up by seven points, ultimately taking the win from the league-leading Bears.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
KILLS	Skye Ekes (16), Gia Padilla (11), Sophia Henry (11)
ASSISTS	Brooke Phillips (36), Sammi Bergjans (11), MeMe Davis (4)
DIGS	MeMe Davis (37), Brooke Phillips (19), Gia Padilla (16)
BLOCKS	Skyler Bumpers (2), Lou Johnson, Skye Ekes (1)
SERVICE ACES	Skye Ekes (2), Sammi Bergjans (2)

UP NEXT
The Bears will finish out the regular season with a three-match home stretch starting this Saturday night as they welcome the Bulldogs of Samford to Macon. Mercer will be hosting Eras Night with Taylor-Swift themed bingo, prizes, friendship bracelets and more. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.

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