MACON, GA. – Skye Ekes and Sophia Henry combined for 25 kills on Saturday evening to lift the Mercer Bears to a 3-0 (21-25, 15-25, 21-25) victory over the Furman Paladins in Southern Conference volleyball action inside Hawkins Arena.
Furman falls to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in the SoCon while Mercer improves to 14-4 on the season and 4-1 in conference play.
For the second consecutive match,
Chandler Parker led the Paladins offensively with 10 kills on .364 hitting and contributed three digs and three assisted blocks.
Emily Navarro dished out 13 assists to go with seven digs. Defensively,
Kennedy Seekford matched Navarro with seven digs and
Genevieve Perry registered four assisted blocks.
Ekes led all players with 13 kills for the Bears and Henry totaled 12. Brooke Phillips compiled a double-double on 33 assists and 10 digs. MeMe Davis led all players with 18 digs.
The opening set featured nine ties and seven lead changes with Furman holding 20-17 lead late after Seekford recorded back-to-back service aces. Mercer closed out the set on an 8-1 run to claim the 25-21 victory. The Bears scored the final six points after
Ava Augustson put the Paladins ahead 21-19 with her kill.
The second set saw the score tied a total of eight times capped when a combination block from Parker and Perry evened it at 12-12. Mercer broke things open by holding the Paladins to just three points the rest of the way. The Bears finished the set outscoring Furman 13-3 for the 25-15 triumph.
The teams traded the initial 12 points of the third set before Mercer jumped out to a 13-9 lead courtesy of a 7-3 run. The Paladins cut their deficit down to one, 14-13, following a combination block from Parker and
Izzy Castelloe. The Bears answered by scoring five of the next six points to take a 19-14 advantage. Furman would get to within four points six times the rest of the way before Mercer clinched the set, 25-21, to secure the three-set victory.
The Paladins concluded the match hitting .155 as a team and held a 5.0-3.0 advantage in blocks.
Furman is back on the road next weekend, October 18-19, traveling to Wofford and The Citadel.
