GREENVILLE, S.C. – Lara Matta had a match high 20 kills Saturday afternoon as the Mercer Bears rallied from two sets down to defeat the Furman volleyball team, 3-2 (17-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-13), in Southern Conference action from Timmons Arena.
Furman drops to 9-11 overall and 3-6 in the SoCon. The win improves Mercer to 13-8 on the year and 7-2 in conference play.
Izzy Castelloe and
Amber Watson both led the Paladin offense with 13 kills. Castelloe hit .263 to go with six digs and three blocks, while Watson posted a .214 clip, three digs, and two blocks.
Kacie Moore turned in 11 kills on .318 hitting, five digs, and four blocks. For the second straight match,
Morgan Baldridge set a new career high in assists after dishing out 46 and added eight digs.
Ashley Stein totaled nine kills and 16 digs.
Kennedy Seekford led all players with 24 digs and
Brooke Scheffler collected 10.
Matta was one of two Bears to register double digit kills along with Taylor Timko, who finished with 12. Sammi Bergjans recorded a double-double of 43 assists and 18 digs. Aubri Martin had nine assists and 15 digs.
Furman jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after reeling off a 25-17 win in set one and 25-20 triumph in set two.
The Paladins turned in a .481 hitting performance in the opening set with Castelloe, Moore, and Watson each registering four kills, Baldridge 12 assists, and Scheffler and Stein three digs. Furman opened on an 8-3 run and, following a Mercer timeout, built its lead out to 16-9 off a ball handling error. An attack error by the Bears kept the Paladins' lead at seven points, 20-13. Furman led by as many as nine points twice with the last coming at 24-15 off a combination block from Baldridge and Gorman. Gorman clinched the set with her kill.
The second set saw the Paladins limit Mercer to just .023 hitting with Baldridge turning in eight assists and three kills, and Seekford six digs. The teams split the initial 18 points when Furman registered nine of the next 14 to go in front, 18-14, on a kill from Watson. The Bears got to within two points at 19-17 before the Paladins answered with three consecutive points. Stein secured the frame with her kill.
Mercer recorded the reverse sweep after picking up a 25-18 win in the third set, 25-20 in the fourth, and 15-13 in the fifth. Furman was limited to .029 hitting during the third as Watson posted four kills, Baldridge 11 assists, and Seekford six digs. In set four, the Paladins had a .184 hitting percentage led by three kills apiece by Castelloe, Stein, and Watson, 10 assists from Baldridge, and Seekford's six digs. Furman outhit the Bears, .167-.118, in the fifth set highlighted by Castelloe's three kills, five assists by Baldridge, and four digs from Seekford.
The Paladins concluded the contest hitting .186 to Mercer's .144 and held an 82-71 advantage in digs and 14.0-6.0 in blocks.
Furman travels to Johnson City, Tenn., next weekend, October 23-24, for a two-match SoCon series at East Tennessee State.
Minuteman Press is the Official Sponsor of Furman Athletics press releases.
