Macon, Ga. – Morgan Cobb finished with 13 kills to lead the Furman volleyball team, but the Paladins fell 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 19-25, 16-25) to the Mercer Bears in Southern Conference action, Saturday afternoon inside Hawkins Arena.

Furman falls to 6-18 overall and 2-12 in the conference. With the win, Mercer improves to 9-17 on the season and 5-9 in league play.

For the second consecutive match, Cobb led the Paladins offensively with 13 kills after hitting .346 for the match. Lauren Haynes fell just shy of a double-double after finishing with nine kills and 16 digs. Sarah Turner dished out 21 assists while Ella Abraham contributed nine assists and eight digs. Mary Beth Headley totaled 12 digs.

Andrea Aceveda registered 15 digs and surpassed Barbara Emener (1988-90) in Furman's career record book. The senior from Brentwood, Tenn. is now tied for second all-time with Janine Turner (1984-87) in career digs at 1,527.

Annie Karle compiled a double-double to pace the Bears with 21 kills, on .450 hitting, and 14 digs. Jaida Howell compiled 13 kills. Kiera McCarles also compiled a double-double on 44 assists and 12 digs. Abbey Havrilla led all players with 22 digs while Lexi Uhrhan added 13 and Sadie Vente 11.

The teams split the opening eight points of the first set before the Paladins reeled off six of the next seven to lead 10-5, leading to a Mercer timeout, following a kill from Cobb. Furman would stretch its lead out to seven points three times with the last coming at 15-8 when Cobb registered another kill. The Paladins held a five-point advantage midway before the Bears used a 6-3 run to trail 21-19 late. Furman responded by scoring the last four points, capped by Headley's kill, to win 25-19. Cobb recorded seven kills to go with a .583 hitting percentage during the opening set.

The second set featured nine ties and began the with the score even early at 5-5 when Headley connected on a kill. Mercer answered with a 10-6 run and went ahead 15-11 before the Paladins recorded the next four points to make it 15-15 after an attack error. Furman outscored the Bears 6-3 after that, including three straight points, to lead 21-18 and forcing the Bears into a timeout. Mercer closed out the set on a 7-1 run for the 25-22 victory.

The Paladins registered seven of the initial 11 points in the third set, taking a 7-4 lead on Aceveda's service ace. The Bears would then go on an 11-6 run to hold a two-point lead at 15-13 heading into the media timeout. Furman came out of the break to score three consecutive points to lead 16-15 following back-to-back service aces from Turner. Mercer outscored the Paladins 10-3 after that for the 25-19 triumph.

Cobb evened the score at 4-4 early in the fourth set before the Bears used a 9-1 run to sit in front 13-5. Furman would get as close as four points the remainder of the set when a combination block by Headley and Kelsey Watkins made the score 17-13. Mercer went on an 8-3 run after that to win 25-16 and capture the 3-1 match victory.

Sydney Tanner totaled three solo blocks to lead the Paladins while Grainne McGrath, who also had eight kills offensively, provided two. Watkins added two blocks on one solo and one assisted.

Furman concludes its regular season next weekend, November 11-12, at UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina.