November 6, 2010

Volleyball Sinks ETSU for Third-Straight Win

MACON, Ga. – Four Mercer players recorded double-digit kills as the Bears topped ETSU 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-12, 25-22) in Saturday’s afternoon’s Atlantic Sun volleyball match at the University Center. 

Mercer handed ETSU its second-straight loss, marking the first time since the opening two matches of the season that ETSU has lost consecutive matches.  The Lady Bucs are now 23-8 (6-3 A-Sun) while Mercer jumped to 14-16 (6-3 A-Sun).

“Today we had a great team effort,” Mercer head coach Noelle Rooke said.  “We made the most of our opportunities in clutch situations.  I’m so proud of my girls for their perseverance.”

After splitting the first two sets, Mercer came out firing on all cylinders in the third frame.  The Bears raced out to a 10-1 lead in the stanza en route to a 25-13 third set win.

In the fourth set, Mercer pulled away from a 19-19 tie with four straight scores.  The last two points of the 4-0 Bears run were earned via service aces by freshman Bridget Sheerin.

Moments later the Bears capitalized on their first match-point opportunity (24-22) as the Mercer front line forced an ETSU attacker into a hitting error.

Sheerin finished the match with30 assists, four service aces and three digs.  Sheerin’s classmate, Carly Iannarino passed out 18 assists of her own while collecting eight digs.

Sophomore Jamie Duffy led the Bears with 13 kills and also contributed 17 digs for her third double-double of the season.  Duffy also posted three block-assists in the winning effort.

Junior Amiee Frutchey also had a double-double, adding 12 digs to her 11 kills against ETSU.  Frutchey’s double-double was her team-leading ninth of the season.

Senior Krista Hurley also knocked down 11 kills while adding five total blocks in the win.  Senior Libby Hansch led the team in hitting percentage for the second-straight match, spiking 10 kills on 16 swings.

Junior Charlotte Harris tallied 20 digs in the win, extending her season long total to 585.  Harris is now just 15 digs short of Claire Tucker’s program record for single-season digs (600).

The Bears return to action in their regular season finale, hosting Kennesaw State on Oct. 13. The match, which will also serve as a senior day celebration, is scheduled for 5 p.m.