CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Sophomore Ali Morris totaled a team-high 14 kills along with 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season as Western Carolina volleyball suffered a 3-1 defeat against Mercer at Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Saturday night. The Bears won the match by the scores of 20-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23.
Western Carolina drops to 4-11 and 1-3 in conference play as Mercer climbs to 6-8 overall and are now 2-1 in SoCon action.
Morris for the seventh time this season led WCU with 14 kills and added 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Bailey Hartsough added 10 kills and a team-high 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Sarah Janourova paced the Catamounts with 21 assists and added nine digs as Katie Boney added 19 helpers and seven digs. Janelle Blue totaled a new career-high with nine kills on Saturday as she also had a pair of blocks.
Kylee Quigley led the way for Mercer with 20 kills as Mykole Morgan had 13 kills for the Bears. Kiera McCarles tallied 25 assists along with five digs as Jessica Dunn finished with 22 helpers and eight digs in the contest. The Bears were led by Abbey Havrilla on the defensive end with 23 digs as Skyler Bumpers had a team-high five rejections.
The Catamounts started quickly on Saturday night with an early 5-2 burst to gain the edge in the opening set before the Bears scored three straight to even the score before WCU quickly moved in front with three of the next four points before the guests went on a 9-3 run to take a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. The Bears stretched the advantage to five, 18-13 before WCU closed on a 12-2 run to claim set one by the score of 25-20.
The two teams stayed close early in the second set with four ties before a quick two points from WCU gave them a 7-5 edge. Mercer rattled off nine of the next 11 points to push in front 14-9. The hosts cut into the lead with three of the next four points to make it 15-12 Bears at the media break. Mercer came out of the timeout fast with a 4-1 burst that gave them a 19-13 advantage and forced WCU to call a timeout. The Catamounts scored four of the next six out of the timeout before the Bears closed scoring four in a row to take the set 25-17 and even the match at a set apiece.
WCU opened quickly with four of the first five points in the third set before the guests went on a 10-2 run to gain the 11-6 lead and force a Catamount timeout. After the two teams traded the next several points, a 6-1 run from WCU cut the deficit to 15-14 and forced a Bears timeout. Western Carolina continued to pressure the Bears out of the timeout with six of the next eight points to take a 20-17 lead in the closing stages of the set. Mercer was able to close with an 8-2 run to claim set three and gain the 2-1 advantage in the match.
The two teams stayed tight in the early going of the fourth set with five ties before a 6-2 run from WCU gave them a 14-11 lead in the midpoint of the set. The two teams went back and fourth over the next several points before WCU pushed the lead to 18-14. Mercer pushed three straight points across to cut the lead to one, 18-17 and force a WCU timeout. The Catamounts ran the lead to three on multiple occasions in the late going before five straight Bears points gave the guests the set and the match on Saturday.
The Catamounts hit the road for a pair of SoCon battles beginning on Friday, Oct. 6 when WCU travels to Birmingham to battle Samford with first serve set for 8 p.m. EST. The weekend concludes the next night with a 7:30 p.m. start from Chattanooga facing off with the Mocs. The match with Samford on Friday will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and live stats will be provided by CatamountSports.Com for both matches.
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