CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball closed out a three-match homestand on Wednesday afternoon, falling in straight sets to league-leading Mercer in Southern Conference play on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Wednesday's match was rescheduled to the midday, midweek contest after Hurricane Helene postponed the originally scheduled match back in late September.
Junior Ali Morris led the Catamount offensive attack with 10 kills, adding three digs and a trio of blocks. Classmate Janelle Blue and sophomore Zoe Zudans both tallied five kills for WCU. Sophomore Katie Boney totaled a team-high 10 assists and six digs as senior Sarah Janourova dished out seven helpers with four digs. Sophomore Eda Yalçinkaya finished with a team-high 11 digs and added four assists.
Florida State transfer Skye Ekes led all players on Wednesday with 11 kills, adding a pair of service aces, two blocks, and three digs. Gia Padilla finished with nine kills and 12 digs while Lou Johnson finished with seven kills and four blocks as Padilla and Johnson both finished the match without committing an attack error. Brooke Phillips finished off the lone double-double of the match with 32 assists and 10 digs, while MeMe Davis had 16 digs to lead all players.
Mercer (21-4, 11-1 SoCon) started fast in the opening set with five points before freshman Meleah Foster, who was making her first collegiate start, scored her first kill to get WCU on the board. The two teams traded the next eight points before the Bears stretched the lead to five, 15-10 at the media break. WCU whittled the deficit to three, 19-16 with six of the ensuing 10 points before the Bears stretched it to 24-17 with five of the next six points. Despite WCU posting the next four points, the guests won the opening set 25-21.
After a good start for the Catamounts in the second set, Mercer rattled off a 9-2 run that made it 10-5, forcing a timeout from the hosts. The Bears kept the throttle down in the second set with a 10-3 spurt to take a sizeable advantage down the stretch en route to a 25-12 win in the second set taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
In a must-win situation, Western Carolina was unable to recover from Mercer's 6-2 run out of the gates as the Bears held the early advantage. The two squads went back and forth with the visitors taking a 14-9 lead at the midpoint of the third set. Mercer then used an 11-4 run down the stretch to finish off the straight-set victory.
The Catamounts hit the road for the final time in the 2024 regular season, beginning on Friday, Nov. 8, against Wofford in Spartanburg, S.C., at 6 p.m. before battling UNCG the next night in Greensboro with first serve set for 5 p.m. Both matchups with the Terriers and Spartans will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), and live stats will be available for both matches online at CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).
