MACON, Ga. – Winners of four-straight matches, the Mercer volleyball team returns to action hosting Florida A&M at the University Center Saturday night.  Match time is scheduled for 5 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Mercer senior Libby Hansch and junior Amiee Frutchey each had 13 kills apiece as the Bears edged Florida Gulf Coast 3-2 (25-17, 25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 15-11) on Oct. 16 at Alico Arena.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

FAMU is 6-11 (4-0 MEAC) after most recently topping North Carlina A&T, 3-0, on Oct. 17. After starting 0-11, the Rattlers have ripped off six-straight wins and are unbeaten in the month of October.

FAMU features a balanced offensive attack, led by freshman Katherine Huanec and sophomore Maria Ceccarelli. Huanec leads the team with 147 kills while Ceccarlli has tallied 142 kills of her own.

Saturday marks the second meeting between the teams this season. Mercer and FAMU met in Tallahassee on Sept. 14. In that matchup, Mercer claimed a 3-0 victory behind a match-high 12 kills by Erica Vrvilo. The win marked the first time Mercer had beaten FAMU since 1997.

FAMU has taken victories in 20 of the 25 all-time meetings between the schools.

GAME NOTES

Mercer swept a weekend set at Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast on Oct. 15-16. The wins extended Mercer’s winning streak to four and pushed the Bears past the .500 mark in conference play for the first time since 2008.

Junior outside hitter Amiee Frutchey is on the threshold of the 1,000 dig plateau for her career. Frutchey has 996 digs entering Saturday’s matchup with FAMU.

Mercer libero Charlotte Harris is the reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Week after amassing 59 digs in two matches last week. Harris has racked up 436 digs in 84 sets, ranking the junior first among A-Sun players in digs per set (5.19).  Harris checks in at 30^th nationally in digs per set.

As a team, the Bears have had a hitting percentage of .150 or better in 11 matches this season. Mercer is 8-3 when hitting better than .150 and 2-11 when hitting under .150.

Mercer won two non-conference tournaments this season, posting 2-1 records at both the Bear Brawl (Sept. 3-4) and the South Carolina State Spikefest (Sept. 17-18).

Mercer ranks 263 in the most recent NCAA RPI report. FAMU checks in at 234 in the same report.